


A is A: Recruitment

by Flyboy254



Series: A Is A [45]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Command & Conquer (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Crossover, Gen, Thriller
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:07:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28346616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flyboy254/pseuds/Flyboy254
Summary: The preparation for the next battle against the Negaforce begins! Parker and Dead Six must recruit the Outer Senshi, to clear the way for the final battle against the evil Queen Beryl and her monsters! But what else lurks around the Senshi, in the shadows behind their fight?
Series: A Is A [45]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/943266
Comments: 12
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**RECRUITMENT**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Parker looked over the shrine. It wasn’t a place he liked the idea of defending, there were too many ways for the enemy to get into it. The main buildings had such thin walls, he was half convinced he could punch through them. It didn’t help that the entire place was grouped in a residential area in the middle of Tokyo. There was a chance that the enemy could jump down from the rooftops and wreak havoc on the place.

“Simple place,” Gunner said, looking over the shrine. “Can see why the family’s been keeping it for so long.”

Parker grunted, turning toward the house. Rei’s grandfather was talking to Hotwire and Bruiser, they’d convinced him the commandos were a writing team doing research on Japanese shrines. Yuuichirou was less of an issue, seeing as he was a dope who barely knew what time it was. Of course, that made Parker worry about him becoming a hostage instead.

“So, I know it isn’t as action-packed as your home,” Minako said, walking up to Parker. “Still, I don’t think it’s that bad.”

“It’s quiet,” Parker said, looking over the shrine. “So, there’s some kind of device under here?”

“That’s what Daniel said,” Minako said. “Something related to the Lunar Kingdom, but we have no idea what it could be.”

“We can ask the cats,” Parker said, glancing toward the pair of felines. “They’re the ones giving you your orders and giving you all your gear.”

“I’m sure if Luna and Artemis knew anything they’d tell us by now,” Minako said. “They’re our friends.”

“Right, friends,” Parker said. Sighing, he looked up at the clear sky. It was a warm summer Saturday, and Parker had been sipping water non-stop as he scoped out the shrine. Usagi lounged under the shade, groaning about the heat. Ami sat with a book in hand, trying to ignore the whining and focus on her reading. Rei was busy with her duties as a shrine maiden, Makoto standing beside the window where she was selling the charms and talismans.

“So, you said you had a surprise for us,” Minako said. “What’ve you got?”

“It’s something we should wait for,” Parker said. “I don’t want to talk about any of this with the old man and beach bum around.”

“Beach bum?” Minako asked.

Parker grinned, turning to see the old man walking into the house. Hotwire kept him laughing, keeping his attention anywhere but on her teammates. “Well it was so much fun talking to you,” he laughed, walking to the door. “I’m so happy you’ll be around for the next few days.”

“And I’m glad you’re going to be so helpful to us,” Hotwire said, laughing as the old man shuffled into the house. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of each other soon.” Giving one last wave, Rei’s grandfather shuffled off into the house shutting the door behind him.

“Looks like you’ve got yourself a new boyfriend,” Gunner said, letting the camera he’d brough hang around his neck. “Bit of an age gap, but at least he has a job.”

“Alright, let’s get started,” Parker said, holding up a manila folder. The commandos and Senshi gathered around each other, Parker setting the folder on the ground. Parker glared as the cats came up, but said nothing. “So, Rainbow found out where the bad guys are hiding out. Looks like they’re hiding under the North Pole.”

“I knew it,” Gunner said. “Santa’s a villain, it was in front of us all along.”

“Also, it turns out you five can teleport,” Parker said, pressing on. “Don’t really understand how, but yeah, you can.”

“You mean I could teleport all this time?!” Usagi cried out. “I could never be late for school, and I wasn’t able to use it?”

“Usagi, you’re the kind of person who’d still be late even if they could teleport,” Rei said.

“Hey, focus, both of you,” Parker said, snapping his fingers to get their attention. “Task Force Bat formed a plan to take out the Negaforce, in conjunction with a detachment from Amestris. We’ll strike at them at their home base and secure your world. Give you some time to breathe before the rest of those crazy idiots we learned about get moving.”

The Senshi all thought back to the enemies they were warned about. Ail and An, Pharaoh 90, eventually Galaxia. The idea of having some room to live their lives before they arrived was a tempting idea.

“The thing is, we need some backup,” Parker said, tapping at three pictures. “We need to get these three in the game.”

“The Outer Senshi,” Luna said. “But there’s only three, where’s -- ”

“We’re not taking her.” It wasn’t how Parker said it, or how loud he was. It was the look he was giving Luna when he said it. “We’re grabbing these three, they’re already aware of who they are and what they’re capable of. We need to explain what’s going on, what the plan is, and get them on our side in preparation for this.”

“Wiping out the Negaforce,” Artemis whispered. “That’s a lot to plan for. What about what happened to MV-4?”

“Campbell went in cocky,” Parker said, rolling his eyes. “This time we go in prepped and ready. No screwing around, no taking time out for a festival.”

“Hey, we worked hard on that,” Makoto said. “Plus, Campbell was right, Kunzite did target it.”

“Alright, he was right once,” Parker said, pulling up the pictures of the three Senshi. “So, we need to find these three: Haruka Tenoh, Michiru Kaioh, and Setsuna Meioh.”

“That’s a lot to ask,” Ami said, clutching her book close to her chest. “How are we going to approach them?”

“Talking to them when they’re in public is a start,” Patch said. “Reacting in public, with civilians everywhere around them? They may be more direct than you all, but I don’t see stupid.”

“Plus we know who the princess is,” Parker said, pointing to Usagi. “We get them to sit down, get them talking? We have a way to move on bringing them aboard.”

“You sound pretty sure,” Minako said, folding her arms. “What makes you think they’d be willing to help us out like this? What would stop them from taking on the Negaforce their own way?”

“GDI psychologists attached to Bat looked into the pair,” Deadeye said. “They’re intensely devoted to their princess, have complete and total intolerance for the enemy, and are believed to be willing to take any and all means to neutralize their threat.”

“Wait,” Usagi said, looking up. “You’re saying they’re like you all?”

Parker chuckled. “We’ll see. Right now, we need to do some more training.”

The girls are let out a collective groan. “More training,” Makoto sighed. “Didn’t we do enough?”  
  


“Yeah, but this is something you’re more familiar with,” Parker said. “Hand to hand training, in case things really go south. Makoto, you already have some experience. You four, well we just need to see what you can do. Here,” Parker said, reaching into his backpack and tossing the four some mouth guards. “You might need these.”

“Excuse me, but this seems a bit much,” Luna said. “The girls were already exhausted when they came back from that ‘firing range’, now you want them to exhaust themselves learning how to fight?”

“Someone has to,” Gunner said, looking down on the cats. “We noticed a lot of the Negaforce’s threats like to get close and personal to their targets. Might help to give the girls a few tricks.”

“We’ll start tomorrow,” Hotwire said, smiling at the girls. “Sundresses aren’t the best for physical training.”

“But where are we going to train?” Makoto looked around the shrine. “There aren’t any mats or soft spaces for us to practice with.”

“We’ll improvise,” Bruiser said, grinning. “All we need is some dirt and a space to practice tossing your opponent.” Gunner had to stop himself from laughing at the girls half-panicked reactions.

“Oh shoot,” Rei said, looking past the group. “Visitors, everyone act natural!”

Dead Six all went back to acting like tourists, but they noticed the girls all jumped to the least convincing poses possible. Minako leaned her shoulder on the side of the shop counter and stared up at the awning. Makoto whistled as she leaned her back against the wall of the shop, hands in her pockets. Usagi and Ami both started giggling with each other, acting like they didn’t have a care in the world.

“Well,” Patch said, pulling out a notebook. “Can’t say we should be surprised.”

“Great, now we gotta teach’em tradecraft,” Parker groaned.

Rei went back to sweeping, looking up at the group of five. “ _Konichiwa,_ welcome to the Hikawa Shrine.”

“Hello,” the tourist said, bowing a little. They looked like they came from China, decked out with cameras and guide books and translation guides. “We told this fame shrine in Japan. We hope to see it on vacation.”

“Oh, I don’t know about famous,” Rei said, bowing her head. “It is one of the oldest though, my family has kept it for centuries.”

“Amazing,” the tourist said, a kind petite woman with short black hair and a cheap sun visor over her head. “Your family posses shrine so long? How possible?”

“It hasn’t always been easy,” Rei said, watching as the four other tourists started taking pictures and looking around the shrine. “Sometimes we’ve come close to having trouble with paying our bills, and I’m the only child in my family, so I have to keep the shrine operating.”

“Much responsibility,” the woman said. “Not hard?”

“No, it’s second nature by now,” Rei said, smiling as she thought about her time at the shrine. “I never get tired of being here.”

As Rei spoke with the tourists, Patch moved toward Ami and Usagi. “Are tourists common around this neighborhood?”

“Well, not so common,” Ami said. “They do come by from time to time though.”

“Time to time,” Patch repeated, turning back to stare at the tourists. “Hotwire, get some more pictures of the shrine?” Hotwire nodded, turning her camera toward Rei and the tourist she was talking to.

* * *

“Hey, Mamoru,” Motoki said, waving to his friend as he walked the arcade’s cabinets. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you around here.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy,” Mamoru said, taking a seat at one of the cabinets. “How have things been here?”

“I haven’t seen any new faces around here,” Motoki said, smiling. “It’s funny, lately it felt like all the people who came in here were strangers.”

“Yeah, guess we’ve been having a lot of those lately,” Mamoru said, thinking about the comings and goings of the MVTF in Juuban. “At least nothing crazy has happened.”

“So far,” Motoki said, chuckling as he started emptying the machines of coins. “They’re about to release a new Sailor V game, I’ll have to clear a whole section of the arcade to get ready for it.”

“Gonna need some help?” Mamoru asked. “I can stop by after I’m done with classes.”

“It’s okay, this is something coming from the owners of the shop,” Motoki said, emptying the last machine in the row. “So how’s your classes going?”

“Oh, they’re fine,” Mamoru said, not bothering to try and sound convincing. The truth was, he’d grown to dread going into class each day. Ever since he’d reawakened his memories, college hadn’t held the same interests. He needed to know more about what his life was like before. Maybe Luna and Artemis could help?

“Oh, hang on,” Motoki said, looking toward the doors. He started speaking in English, Mamoru turning to see four darker-skinned men holding a map. They looked like they were asking Motoki for directions, and after a few seconds of inaudible English Motoki waved them on their way. “Just some businessmen, they got lost trying to get back to their hotel.”

“Sounds like a pain,” Mamoru said.

“I don’t mind, they’re just lost after all.” Going back to emptying the next row of machines, Motoki looked up and grinned. “I haven’t seen Usagi or her friends around that often either. I know it sounds crazy, but do you think she’s finally starting to focus on her schoolwork?” Mamoru laughed at the idea, if only because Motoki thought it was school that was keeping the girls occupied.

* * *

Kunzite stared at the image of the Hikawa Shrine, plotting his next move. His plan had worked, the deaths of the humans in hospitals around the city giving the Negaforce a slow but stable supply of energy. Now he had to decide how to best use it.

“Mattock,” Kunzite said. “What can you do for me?”

A youma appeared behind Kunzite, one with their right arm covered in shadow. “I do what you need of me, Kunzite. So long as you can pay my price.”

“That is no object,” Kunzite said, drawing up from his energy reserves. “What I need is for you to observe this shrine.”

“That shrine again,” Mattock grunted, shifting his mass toward the floating image of the shrine. “Tell me, what do you think is there?”

“I’m not sure,” Kunzite said. “The Senshi congregate around it, there must be a reason behind this decision.”

“So you’re willing to sacrifice more of us for some little shrine,” Mattock chuckled, his voice sounding like rumbling stones down a hill. “Did Zoisite’s death worm it’s way into your mind that badly?”

Kunzite glanced to the glass casket, still holding the body of his love. Then he spun around and put his crystal blade to Mattock’s neck. “If you question me in such a way again, I will see that your power is used to supply those more loyal to our plans.”

“Right, our plans,” Mattock said, still grinning despite the blade. “After all, you’re the last of the Four Generals, all must listen to your orders.”

“A truth you should be mindful of at all times,” Kunzite said, pulling his blade away. “Summon your followers. You start at once.”

As Mattock vanished, Kunzite glared at the image. Until he was aware of another presence in his chambers. “Who are you?”

“An emissary,” the figure said, emerging from the shadows. “One that follows a true leader. One who despise the wasting of a great mind.”

Kunzite spun around to see what he thought was a youma, until he realized the energy was all wrong. It looked like a being with blue skin, and a ring of small horns growing up under its black hair. Only the energy was human, all through the being. Kunzite wondered if no one had bothered to check simply because of how the being appeared.

“How did you get in here,” Kunzite growled, bringing his crystal blade up again. “You have no right to be down here, you should be drained of your energy where you stand.”

“Yet you haven’t,” the human said, bowing. Nothing in their voice betrayed insult or disdain. It was shocking, but they were genuine. “I come bearing a message. It is your decision whether or not you wish to listen.”

Keeping his blade up, Kunzite held out his hand. Reaching into his robes, the figure threw a small tape recorder at Kunzite. Still glaring, the general pressed the play button and listened.

“ _Greetings, Gen. Kunzite,_ ” the voice said. It was a voice that spoke with authority, knowledge, saying without words that it was in command right now even without being there. “ _I have a proposition for you._ ”


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Usagi was dead asleep in her bed, dreaming of being a princess when she was shaken awake. “Ugh, later Luna.”

“Well, now I’m really insulted.”

Usagi’s eyes ripped open, and she bolted up to see Parker crouched next to her bed. He had a wide grin on his face, waving at her. “Morning kid.”

“Parker?!” Usagi turned to see that not only was the sun _not_ up, but she saw her clock was _not_ past six o’clock. “Parker, what are you doing?!”

“Told you we’d be helping to get you five trained up,” Parker said, pointing outside. “We found a nice patch of park to get you five started in. Grab some sweats and get outside, five minutes.” Patting Usagi on the shoulder, Parker went out her bedroom door into the house.

Five seconds later, Luna came bounding in with a glare. “Can you believe the nerve of him! He just broke into your parent’s home and -- ”

“Well, if I don’t get ready he’ll probably yell at me,” Usagi groaned, pulling out her gym clothes. “I just wish I knew why soldiers all have to get up so early.”

Throwing on her clothes, Usagi ran out of the house to see Parker waiting for her. “Alright let’s…What the hell are you wearing?”

Usagi blinked, looking down at her bloomers. “What, my exercise clothes?”

Parker groaned. “We’re gonna have to get you all some real PT gear later. C’mon, let’s go.”

The pair walked down the still-dark blocks of homes, Parker looking around in case anyone was up too early. “We’re gonna start you girls off on the basics,” he said. “Rolls, stances, all the beginner actions.”

“And this will make us better?” Usagi asked.

“It’ll help get you ready,” Parker said. “Nod isn’t gonna give any of you any slack when they finally come after us, they’re gonna use a lot of dirty tricks against you. Knowing some basic hand to hand, it might keep you five alive.”

Usagi didn’t know how to take the idea, training to fight with her hands and not her powers. It was already enough of a pain learning how to use the rifles the platoon brought. Using her fists? “What are you worried about,” she asked. “We already have our powers, and if those fail we have the guns.”

“Yeah, well Nod’s tricky like that,” Parker said. “Terrorists don’t fight like the Negaforce, they aren’t dressed up in stupid outfits and shout out how they’re gonna attack you. They might come up in civies with a blade or a gun, try to take you out that way. You won’t have time to transform, and you might not be able to draw a gun.”

Usagi groaned again. “I just wanna go back to how things were before. I know I wasn’t the best at school, but at least I wasn’t dealing with all this craziness.” Parker half-grunted as he went on.

The silence was near-unbearable until Usaig smiled and leaned close to Parker. “So, what’s your favorite food at the diner?”

“Eh, the buffalo wings are okay,” Parker said, shrugging.

“Well I personally love how great Ms. Hamada is at making parfaits,” Usagi said. “She makes them just right, the perfect amount of cream and fruit.”

“Never had a real sweet tooth,” Parker said. “Just preferred that my food was actually hot.”

“Jeez, talk about an easy mark to make,” Usagi said, giving a hard side-eye to Parker. “Isn’t there anything that makes you happy?”

“Yeah, but I don’t drink when I’m on duty.”

Coming up on the park, Usagi saw the rest of Dead Six and her friends already inside. “Cap’n,” Gunner said, staring at Usagi in her sweatshirt and bloomers. “Her too?”

“Her too,” Parker said, reaching into his backpack and drawing the five mouthguards. “Alright, you five grab one and let’s start.”

The girls each grabbed a mouth guard, Parker backing away as Hotwire took over. “Alright, these will be your beginner hand to hand combat techniques,” she said, standing before them in a tank top and running pants. “Makoto, show me a proper fighting stance.”

Makoto blinked, but did so. Hotwire nodded, walking up and motioning the others to come closer. “See how she’s standing; angled to the side, legs roughly shoulder length apart. She’s keeping her dominant hand close to guard her face, and her non-dominant out to make a potential strike. Now, all of you put in your mouthguards and make a similar stance.”

The girls did so, and Hotwire went between them. Minako’s right hand was out too far, she needed to keep it closer. Rei’s feet were to far apart, and she could be caught off balance. Ami wasn’t angled right, presenting more space for a potential foe to grab hold of. Usagi had no idea how to stand, looking more like some off-Broadway player in a cheap production of _Cats_.

“Here, like this,” Hotwire said, gently guiding Usagi into place. “You need to keep yourself light on your feet, but not so light that your opponent can put you off-balance.”

Usagi was surprised at how helpful Hotwire was being. She’d seen Parker dealing with the other teams in the SGC, and how Dead Six let him go about it. The idea that the commandos could have this kind of side to them? Usagi didn’t know what to make of it.

“Now remember how it feels for each of you,” Hotwire said. “You need to feel comfortable in your stance. If it isn’t easy to hold, you’re doing it wrong.”

Setting the girls up in their stances, Hotwire nodded and took her own stance. “Alright, now we’ll start with your most basic technique. Take your left hand and jab, straight ahead.” Hotwire demonstrated, taking a second before she threw her left fist out once, twice, three time. “You want to imagine there’s someone’s face there, right where your fist hits. Helps you practice putting your whole body into it.”

“Hit someone?” Rei asked. “You mean -- ” She stopped, realizing what Hotwire was saying. That and Hotwires stare. “Right, sorry.”

“All four of you practice it now,” Hotwire said. “Three jabs, go.”

The girls all looked a little awkward as they moved. Minako looked the least hesitant, Hotwire guessed some hard-learned lessons from her time working solo were behind that. Rei looked focused, but her form looked unsure, she wasn’t there yet. Usagi and Ami were the least confident, Hotwire could tell they weren’t putting any real force behind their jabs. They were jerky as they moved, trying to throw punches without any force behind them.

“Christ, they need to learn how to get angry,” Gunner said, watching Hotwire move forward to show them how to throw a cross. “Look at’em, they’re just…”

“They’re still green,” Bruiser said, scanning the park for any early-morning visitors. “They’ll learn fast.”

“How fast?” Gunner asked. “They understand how to fire a rifle, they’ve got powers, but they don’t know what it’s like. Nod’ll eat them alive.”

Bruiser scowled as he scanned the park. “What do you suggest?”

“We need to move’em,” Gunner said. “The SGC, Bat, somewhere they can train under the best conditions.”

“Maybe after the operation?” Bruiser shook his head. “There’s not much we can do until we secure the North Pole.”

“What about their families,” Gunner asked. “Three of’em have parents that care about them. One has a father that’s an influential political figure.”

“So Kino then,” Bruiser said. “I don’t know what else we should be expecting. They’re still kids.”

“Didn’t seem to matter much to their leadership,” Gunner said.

As they moved on to break falls, Hotwire shook her head. “No, girls, you need to let yourself fall.”

“That makes no sense,” Rei said, pushing herself off the ground. “Why would we _want_ to fall on our faces?”

“It’s not learning how to fall on your faces,” Hotwire said. “It’s learning how to react to a fall. Think about it, what do you do when you’re falling?”

Rei blinked. “Uh, well I put my hands out -- ”

“Exactly,” Hotwire said. “You put your hands out. Which means you put the entire force of your body on your wrists. Same principle on your back, you fall there and you could hurt your spine. You have to start thinking differently now, there’s too much at stake not to.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to teach us how to not fall?” Rei asked. “That way we don’t have to worry about all this break training.”

Hotwire shook her head. “That’s the kind of thinking I’m talking about,” she said. “You’re always going to fall, and it matters that you get back up as fast as possible. You can’t do that if you hurt yourself because you didn’t take a fall the right way.”

“Seriously?” Rei asked. “Makoto, is this really important?”

“Well, yeah,” Makoto said, shrugging. “There’s no mats in real life. If you don’t know how to take a fall, you’ll be in trouble.”

“Try it again,” Hotwire said. “Get on your knees and hold your arms up.” The four girls did so, Rei still looking confused. “Now remember, you want your forearms to hit the ground. Slap your hands, that tells me the force of the fall is going into the ground. Now, perform a front break fall.”

The four made their falls. Minako landed well, her hands slapping the dirt a half second before her body hit the ground. Usagi and Ami grunted as they hit the ground, but they were starting to learn how to fall. Rei didn’t seem to get it. Hotwire watched as she kept trying to control her body as she fell, not falling to the ground like she needed to. “Alright,” Hotwire said. “One more time.”

Three yards away, Makoto showed Parker her skill. She went through the motions of taking Parker’s arm and turning it behind his back. She knew her motions well, putting pressure on the proper points and using Parker’s weight against him. Nodding, Parker reset. “Pretty good. Give me the full speed run through.”

Makoto nodded, taking a breath. She squared off up to Parker, Parker putting his right hand on her shoulder. Makoto sighed, and got a nod from Parker. She grabbed his hand, keeping control of his wrist as she shifted behind him. His arm was bent to the small of his back, Makoto putting her left hand on Parker’s shoulder to force him down. She didn’t cross her feet once, she didn’t take her eyes off Parker as she moved. As Parker was force to the ground, he was smiling.

“Nice work,” Parker grunted, face half-buried in the dirt. “Been fighting a lot?”

“A little,” Makoto said, letting Parker go. “Most of the thugs I wind up fighting against are about as big as you, too.”

“Poor bastards,” Parker said, pushing himself up and dusting off his clothes. He nodded to the others and said, “Did you ever have a chance to teach them anything?”

“Oh, no, I didn’t,” Makoto said. “I never really had much chance to, between school and our duties as Senshi.”

“You’ll want to start,” Parker said. “They’re gonna need a lot of training to get to where they need to be. Don’t want to leave your friends in the lurch, do you?”

“Uh, I guess not,” Makoto said. “What’s the lurch?” Parker groaned, facepalming.

Another hour of training, the girls were on their way back home sweaty and worn. “I can’t believe this,” Usagi groaned. “Up before the sun’s even out, and now I have to go to school? This isn’t fair.”

“Welcome to the life,” Parker said. “You should go to Parris Island sometime, see how lucky you’ve got it. Thank God we’re not making you girls go through IT.”

Usagi shuddered. If Parker was saying they were lucky not to go through something, she’d believe it. “So, what happens now?”

“We need to find the other three,” he said. “We can grab tuxedo boy and try to find Setsuna, but the two lesbians are gonna be an issue. We can’t just walk into their school and ask to talk to’em, that’d be a little weird.”

“Yes, you showing up at a high school might draw some attention,” Usagi said. Looking up at the dawning sky, Usagi smiled. “It’s kinda nice being up this early though. No one else is around, and the sky’s so pretty.”

“Huh, guess so,” Parker said. “Look, we’ll meet at the shrine when you’re all outta school.”

“Right,” Usagi said, face filled with a sudden conviction before she ran to the door. “At least today I’m up early enough to eat breakfast! Bye Parker, see you later!”

Parker smiled, shaking his head as the girl ran behind the fence around the house.

“I see you’re pleased with yourself,” Luna said from the top of the wall. “Tell me, is it really necessary to put her through more training like this?”

Parker glared up at the cat, then turned and started walking away.

“How rude,” Luna whispered. “This certainly doesn’t help how people perceive Americans!” Parker answered by flipping Luna the bird as he walked away.

* * *

“Theoretical physics,” Mamoru said, holding on to the rail in the subway. He was with Hotwire and Patch, the trio making their way to K.O. University. “And you say she can travel through time?”

“It’s a perfect fit,” Hotwire said. “Quantum mechanics isn’t exactly our specialty, but we know enough to recognize there’s a lot of potential. She’s actually pretty smart.”

Mamoru’s eyebrow went up. “How’s that?”

“Think about it,” Patch said, sitting down next to the pair. “Traveling through time can’t be easy. You know the thought experiment? Travel back to the time of the dinosaurs, accidentally kill a butterfly? You could set a chain of events into motion that means South American colonizes Europe first.”

“Only quantum physics could be a way to try and understand how to travel through time without interfering with what has already happened,” Hotwire said. “It’s probably far more complex than this, but it could make her even more powerful.”

“Meaning we could do the same,” Mamoru said.

“Using science to understand magic is already happening across the MVTF,” Patch said. “Elric is researching minerals from the SGC. Once he learns how to use those in his skillset? He could create entire reserves of it that we can use.”

“Then imagine what happens when the benders start applying some of the sciences,” Hotwire said. “Any opposing force is screwed.”

“How do you mean,” Mamoru asked. “What would make it so different?”

“They’d have more options,” Hotwire said. “Imagine what happens when Mako can bend the bioelectrical signals in someone’s body? What Bolin could do if he started hitting fault lines and channeling magma in the right was to pen in or deny enemy positions?”

“Then there’s Korra,” Patch said. “Combine godlike power with a firm understanding of physics? She’d be unstoppable.”

“I hope she’s coming along with us to the North Pole then,” Mamoru said. “Why so many other forces though?”

“Face down something like Metallia with no backup plan?” Hotwire laughed as the train pulled into their station. “Your past life must’ve been more courtly than military.”

“I’m still trying to remember a lot of it,” Mamoru said, leading the way off the train. “Sometimes it’s easy to pull up a memory of Usagi and I together, but when I try to think about anything else it’s a blank.”

“Might want to talk to the cats about it,” Patch said, following Mamoru up the stairs of the station. “They already unlocked the important memories. It might take another hit to dredge the rest.”

“Right now let’s focus,” Hotwire said, looking around as they came topside. They were dressed in plain civies, moving through the crowd in jeans and shoes. Hotwire wore a dark blue polo, Patch a tan button-up. Another pair of foreign tourists in Juuban, that’s all they were.

The front building of K.O. University was a stark white façade, a tower of higher education in the middle of the city. The trio strolled in without notice, Mamoru checking the directory to see that the physics lab was on the fifth floor.

“This is too easy,” Patch said, Mamoru pushing the elevator buttong. “No ID check to enter the building, no restriction on using the elevators, has anyone in this world heard about security?”

“I’ve noticed a lot of teams have a lot of bad things to say about our world,” Mamoru said, staring at the elevator doors. “Did you think maybe we get tired of hearing it?”

“Start making corrections then,” Patch replied. “Campbell might have been stupid about a lot of things, but his report mentioned the police never responded to any of the incidents they dealt with.” The German turned to Mamoru, and he wasn’t hiding his judgement. “Five girls and one man trying to protect a metro area of roughly thirty-three million? Did you ever stop and ask why no one in government ever seems to care? Or why the media doesn’t ask more questions about everything that happens?”

“Why are you all asking so many questions,” Mamoru said, turning to Patch. “It’s not easy living the lives we do, and it doesn’t help when people who haven’t lived it start second-guessing it.”

“Someone has to,” Patch said. They waited until the elevator opened, letting the lone black-suited bald man inside exit before going on. “The SGC and GDI are second-guessed at all times. Our governments want to know the ins and outs of our actions from beginning to completion. They ask for movements, variables in the operation that we hadn’t or couldn’t prepare for. Each question forces us to respond and change.”

“While you’ve all so far been content to listen to a pair of cats and never ask about how all of this happened,” Hotwire said. There was particular venom in her voice at the mention of the cats. “You need to start thinking that maybe it helps to ask some questions.”

“All I’ve ever had are questions,” Mamoru said. “You think I haven’t wanted them answered?”

“So what have you done lately,” Hotwire said, her voice brimming with accusation. “Take some initiative, start asking questions from the cats.”

The doors parted, revealing another clean white hallway. Mamoru led the way to the left and said, “There’s an office down here. We should be able to ask about her there.”

“No need,” Patch said, seeing a door open up ahead of them. “We found her.”

Setsuna Meioh stood before them, coming out of the lab in a white coat. She had started to walk down the hall when she noticed the trio. “Oh, I’m sorry. Were you three about to go in?”

“No, actually we were looking to speak with you Ms. Meioh,” Mamoru said, holding out his hand. “My name is Mamoru Chiba, and these are my friends.”

“Erich Wulfe,” Patch said, nodding.

“Shai Aviv,” Hotwire said, keeping her expression neutral.

“Oh, you’re in the exchange program,” Setsuna said. “That explains why I haven’t seen you here yet. It’s nice to meet you.”

“This isn’t about the university,” Hotwire said, glancing around the hall. “This is about something farther out in space, if you understand?”

“Farther out in space,” Setsuna repeated, eyes narrowing. “How far?”

“To start, it concerns some questions about the age of the Moon,” Hotwire said.

“We do not think it is appropriate to talk about this here,” Mamoru said. “Too many people might misunderstand what we’re talking about, you understand. Can we speak outside?”

“You are not giving me a reason to even trust any of you yet,” Setsuna said. “This is a rather forward meeting after all.”

“And with luck, we can keep a greater threat from needing to wake up,” Hotwire said. “Working together, we can stop it from ever remembering what it was.”

“I see,” Setsuna said, thinking for a moment. “Then I will meet you in the lobby. I think we have much to talk about.”

“You’ve got no idea,” Hotwire said, turning to the elevator.

Five minutes later, Setsuna walked into the lobby in a purple suit and a giant red bow on the front of her blouse. Hotwire stared at the fashion choice for a second, but kept any comments to herself. Parker would screw around like that, but that’s why he wasn’t around.

“Let’s go somewhere public,” Patch said. “Is there a restaurant or café around?”

“This way,” Setsuna said, leading them out the doors. “I take it you are not associated with my enemies?”

“None of them,” Mamoru said. “I’m -- ”

“King Endymion,” Setsuna said. “In the future at least.”

“You knew?” Mamoru froze in his tracks. “How?”

“You looked familiar, but this interaction makes it clear that something changed.” Setsuna spun around to stare at the three. “Who are you all?”

“We’ll explain at the restaurant,” Hotwire said. “Unless you want to talk about this in private.”

Finally seated in a booth at the nearest café, Hotwire and Patch sat across from Setsuna and Mamoru. The senshi of time sipped at a fresh cup of tea, eyes shut as she spoke. “So, you found that Sailor Moon is really Princess Serenity. And this group, this task force, it wishes to help?”

“The Senshi have aided in several operations of other task force members,” Hotwire said, staring at Setsuna. “We want to secure this world, give them time to train up and prepare for potential threats in the future.”

“The future?” Setsuna shook her head, finally looking up at Hotwire. “You cannot know the future.”

“We can thanks to the multiverse,” Hotwire said. “Once we eliminate the Negaforce, there’s the threats of Ail and An. Following them, there’s the Black Moon Clan. Then there’s the threat of Pharaoh 90 and the re-awakening of Saturn. You know all this, it’s why you were sent back.”

“I was sent back to stop catastrophe,” Setsuna said. “However, it seems we do work toward a similar goal. Stopping Sailor Saturn from awakening is all we can do to prevent ultimate catastrophe.”

“Then let’s stop her,” Mamoru said. “I know this must seem unusual to you, but -- ”

“It isn’t,” Setsuna said, setting her tea down. “Stopping the need for Saturn to awaken was my purpose for coming back. If you offer to help make that real, then I gladly accept.”

Hotwire blinked, but leaned back and relaxed a little more. “This was easier than we thought.”

“This was the reason I was sent back,” Setsuna said. “If I fail to capitalize on a chance to stop it early, before so much pain can come from it? I couldn’t live with that pain.”

“One down then,” Patch said. “We located Saturn and Uranus too, but it isn’t going to be as easy to talk to them. We need to meet them outside of their school, or we risk getting into some uncomfortable trouble with the locals.”

“Hmm?” Setsuna looked puzzled. “Why do you say that?”

Hotwire stared at the woman for a moment. “Uh, grown adults trying to talk to high school students without anyone seeing them? Doesn’t that strike you as a little suspicious?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Setsuna said. “Perhaps there are other means of contacting them? If they are senshi, they might respond well to seeing their princess.”

“Could be worth the chance,” Patch said. “Do you have anything important for the rest of the day? We can introduce you to the others.”

“Meet them?” Setsuna seemed humbled by the idea, looking away. “You understand, Serenity is my queen. Always guarding the Time Door, then coming back to see her now? It seems risky.”

“That’s why you’re studying quantum physics isn’t it?” Hotwire leaned over the table. “You want to learn how to travel through time and minimize the risks? If you don’t take a risk, you won’t have a chance at any reward.”

“But the future could be damaged,” Setsuna said.

“Yeah, the future is already probably changed,” Patch said, scratching the back of his head. “At least, whatever past that led to the future you came from.”

Setsuna stared at Hotwire and Patch, eye twitching as she processed what she just heard.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

* * *

“Wow, you really had a great day Usagi,” Naru said, smiling at her friend. “I’ve never seen you stay out of trouble the whole day before.”

“I know,” Usagi said, smiling as she ate her lunch. “I got to eat breakfast, I wasn’t late today, and I can enjoy my lunch without worrying about trouble from Ms. Haruna.” Taking another helping of rice, Usagi chewed away with a smile. “If this is what getting up early is like, I should do it more often!”

“Hey you guys!” The girls looked up to see Umino running over, panting as he skidded to a stop. “Did you see? There’s some foreigners at the school today!”

“Foreigners? Umino, you’re so weird,” Naru said, turning away. “Can’t you just let us eat our lunch?”

“But they’re not just any foreigners,” Umino said, taking a second to catch his breath. “They’re from the Iranian embassy!”

Usagi and Naru both looked at each other, and then back to Umino. “So…?”

“Don’t you think this is weird?” Umino pointed toward the front of the building. “The embassy might be here, but the ambassador doesn’t live there. Why would they be coming here?”

“Maybe he wants to bring any kids he has to school on his way to work,” Usagi said. “Come on Umino, this isn’t so weird.”

“It is a little exciting though,” Naru said. “Think about it, we could meet some new students from another country.”

“Oooh, that would be exciting,” Usagi said. “I wonder if the ambassador would send his son.” Usagi and Naru started to daydream already, imagining a handsome dark-skinned boy from foreign lands. A roguish smile, wavy raven hair, and sparkling brown eyes that –

“There they are,” Umino shouted, pointing toward the front of the school. Usagi and Naru scrambled over, seeing four men walking away from the school. They all looked young, dressed in fine suits as they went. One of them had a beard, but the rest were clean shaven and professional in appearance.

“Why’re there four of them,” Naru asked. “I get that ambassadors are busy people, but does he really need four assistants to check the school? And how’d you know they’re Iranian anyway?”

“I heard them when I was coming down here,” Umino said. “They told Ms. Haruna they were from the embassy, that this is what the ambassador asked them to do.”

“Well it’d be nice to have a new student in class,” Naru said. “Right Usagi?”

“Yeah, that’d be awesome,” Usagi said, laughing as she dove back to her lunch.

Back in their car, the four men buckled up. “This country is insane,” Abbas said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “This school suffers this many incidents, and no one thinks it odd?”

“This is Japan,” Hameez said, scratching at his beard. “The Americans have influenced them in such insane ways, as our nation was. It shouldn’t surprise us that these incidents are treated differently than they would be in our homeland.”

“Yes, here they wouldn’t be under assault by the Republican Guard,” Jalil laughed. “Let’s face the truth, there is no threat here.”

“Only in the sense that it hasn’t yet gone after our embassy,” Daryush said, adjusting his glasses. “The PSIA will become aware of our presence in due time. We should establish the threat of these things and return.”

Abbas looked back as he started the car. “Things? They aren’t animals.”

“They may well be,” Daryush said, looking up just right as the sun glinted off his glasses. “That doesn’t mean we should ignore their potential. These incidents have carried on for a year, and the Japanese have done nothing. I doubt we are the only nation investigating these matters.”

“The Americans aren’t,” Hameez said. “Which raises the question: Are they aware of something we aren’t?” No one had an answer as the car pulled onto the street.

* * *

Motoki wiped his forehead, smiling as he finished disconnecting the last of the Sailor V machines. Tomorrow they’d start taking them out, and then he’d have to make sure the new games were prepped and ready for his customers. Some of them weren’t exactly thrilled at the idea of losing their top score records, but they let the shock pass when they realized why there was a swap.

“Excuse me?” Turning, Motoki saw a woman with a sun visor, a group of foreigners spreading through the front of the arcade behind her. “Sorry, help please?”

“Oh, of course,” Motoki said, smiling. “Do you need some coins?”

“Yes,” the woman said, bowing. “Sorry, Japanese not well.”

“That’s fine,” Motoki said, laughing as he led the woman to the nearest machine. “Here you are. Just put your money here and you’ll get some coins.”

“Ah, thank you mister.” The woman bowed again, feeding the money in and getting some coins for her group.

Bong-Cha watched as the man walked off, continuing to work the arcade. There were a few customers inside, high schoolers trying to relax after their school, but no one that fit the descriptions of the Senshi. That was fine, if the intelligence was right there was bound to be a sighting soon. Counting her coins, she made her way to one of the crane games.

“Doesn’t make sense,” Ji-yoo said, coming up to her. “Why would these people spend their time in an arcade? We should go back out and keep searching the neighborhood.”

“Not with the pattern we’ve found,” Bong-Cha said, sliding some coin in and eyeing her prize. “These threats look like they’re localized to Juuban, once we find them we’ll find these Senshi.”

“Hopefully soon,” Ji-yoo said, scanning the arcade. Bong-Cha didn’t argue. Even with the collapse of communism in Europe their “cousins” to the north were still looking for any advantage they could grab. The Americans and Japanese couldn’t tell them anything about these “Senshi” or what they knew about them. A glaring hole in their intelligence that Kim family could use to gain a possible advantage. They would only get more desperate in the coming years, without a Soviet Union to play against China and surrounded by an ever-capitalistic Pacific. Better that Seoul figure out what was happening before they did.

The rest of the team scattered around the arcade, playing the role of tourist well. They weren’t trying to play at being fools, that would make them too noticeable. They also didn’t want to play at being too knowledgeable, if they had to act that would draw attention. Better to play at being forgettable tourists than someone that could draw suspicion.

“We still don’t know how to handle a potential encounter,” Ji-yoo said, watching as Bong-Cha manipulated the crane arm to one of the toys. “Even an individual will be difficult to subdue.”

“That presumes we have to subdue them,” Bong-Cha argued. “If we can, we’ll make contact before we need to worry about any hostile interaction. The last thing we want is the PSIA asking too many uncomfortable questions.” Satisfied she had the claw in the best position, Bong-Cha hit the button.

“It’s not the PSIA I’m worried about,” Ji-yoo said. “These things that have been sighed along with the Senshi, they seem to be the greater threat.”

“That’s why we should try for a peaceful first meeting,” Bong-Cha said, smiling as the claw made a firm grab on the Sailor Moon doll. “Then we can draw them in and move on from there.”

* * *

Usagi skipped along toward the shrine, humming to herself as she went now that school was out. “You’re in a good mood today,” Makoto said, walking alongside Ami. “Did Ms. Haruna decide to cancel a test?”

“I don’t know what it is,” Usagi said, skipping backwards for a bit. “I’ve guess I’ve had such a good day I can’t imagine it stopping.”

“That’s a nice change of pace,” Ami said. “This is the first time I think I’ve ever seen you this happy, and it isn’t because of a crush on a boy.”

“I don’t know why’d I’d have a crush on anyone anymore,” Usagi said, turning around again. “After all, I have Mamoru in my life.”

“Well I hope Dead Six found one of those Outer Senshi they were talking about,” Ami said. “Some older minds could be invaluable for what we need to do.”

“And some fighters too,” Makoto said. “Those files said Sailor Uranus doesn’t mess around. It’ll be nice to have someone else on our side who knows what they’re doing against the bad guys.”

“Yep, it looks like everything is working for us for a change,” Usagi said, laughing as she started bounding up the steps of the shrine. “I don’t think anything could bring me down right now!”

Hopping up the stairs, Usagi froze when she saw Dead Six and Mamoru talking to one of the women she’d been told was an Outer Senshi. They stopped when they noticed her, Setsuna staring at Usagi in something between reverence and shock. Ignoring Dead Six, she walked over to Usaig and went to one knee. “My queen, you have no idea what it means to see you.”

Usagi blinked, eyes wide as she stared down at the woman. Looking back up, she saw Dead Six chuckling at the sight, Mamoru looking as confused as she was. “Uh, thank you,” Usagi said, trying to keep calm. “I’m Usagi Tsukino, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Yes, of course,” Setsuna said, standing up again. She kept her head down though, speaking to Usagi like she was royalty. “I am Sailor Pluto, the Senshi of Time. I am honored to be by your side for this time.”

“Yeah, we’re all thrilled,” Parker said, walking up. “Setsuna knows you as a wise and just queen. Guess it means they’ll give a crown to anyone, huh?”

Usagi chuckled, trying to not pay attention to the annoyed look on Setsuna’s face at the moment. “Me, a queen?”

“You are a princess, Usagi,” Luna said, padding up to the girls. “It only makes sense that you’d be a queen in the future.”

“Luna,” Setsuna said, smiling as she looked to the black cat. “It’s good to see you as well.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time,” Luna said, bowing. “We’re grateful to have you here, Sailor Pluto.”

“We already explained the basics of the operation,” Parker said to the girls. “Once Minako and Rei get here, we’ll figure out how to contact those two, hopefully scope out that lunatic’s academy too.”

As everyone talked, a nondescript car parked across the street rolled the tinted passenger-side window down, just enough for Daryush to take pictures. “Westerners,” he whispered. “Maybe the Americans have already contacted them?”

“Perhaps, but that doesn’t change our mission yet,” Abbas said. “How many are there?”

“I count five Westerners,” Daryush said. “But there’s a woman, maybe Jordanian.”

“Maybe Israeli,” Hameez spat. “Who else would be working with the West on this?”

“Which makes the question why,” Abbas said. “We should check with Tehran, something doesn’t make sense.”

“I’ve got the pictures we’ll need,” Daryush said, nodding. “We’re ready.”

It was another twenty minutes before Minako and Rei got back, Parker looking over the group. “Okay, we’re ready to try and investigate that academy Tenou and Kaiou are in. Problem is, we need a way in. We can’t do the talking, and none of you have the school’s uniform.”

“Wait, yes we do,” Minako said, smiling. “Usagi’s disguise pen! We can use that to disguise ourselves and find them!”

“Hang on,” Parker said. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Some of the faculty are bad guys in that place, you go in and we might not be able to get you out.”

“Then what other options do we have,” Ami said. “It’s the only sure way to find them in the academy without raising any questions.”

“They have a point sir,” Gunner said. “We can find a place near the school to wait, but there’s not much else to do. Besides, they are schoolgirls. They’d fit in better than we would.”

Parker glared, and turned to Setsuna. “You’ll need to go with’em, make sure they’ve got some heavy hitting backup in there.”

“Of course,” Setsuna said, bowing her head. “Anything for my queen.”

“Meanwhile,” Hotwire said, holding up some pictures. “We got these back. We have some faces.”

“Bout time,” Parker said, looking at the pictures. “You’re sure this was all of’em?”

“All of who,” Minako asked, moving to see the pictures. “Hey, those are the tourists from the other day.”

“Tourists my ass,” Parker said, grinning. “They’re in the game, no question.”

“You mean they’re with the Negaforce?” Luna looked up at the pictures. “How can you tell?”

“Not the Negaforce,” Parker said, scowling at the cat. “They’re agents, probably with Chinese intelligence.”

“Oh please,” Luna said, exasperated. “How can you think that they’re with a nation’s intelligence service?”

“Because of the pictures they were taking,” Parker said. “They were taking pictures all over the shrine, including the girls. They aren’t tourists, they were scoping the place out. Taking pictures of you all. They’re looking for you.”

“Oh gosh,” Usagi whispered. “Does that mean those Iranian people at school -- ”

“Iranians?” Hotwire looked like she was about to have a heart attack. “What Iranians?”

“At school today,” Usagi whimpered. “There were people from the Iranian embassy, they were getting a tour from my teacher.”

“Christ, two of them,” Parker groaned. “Shit, things just got more complicated.”

“We better move fast,” Patch said. “First thing tomorrow we’re going to that academy, they’re already going to be looking for the girls if they have pictures.”

“Enough of this,” Luna said, leaping up on Usagi’s shoulder. “You are all overreacting. You’re the ones who keep saying that the authorities are nothing to worry about, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, the Japanese authorities,” Parker said, venom in his voice. “These are more our kind of people, the ones who work like we do. If we don’t do something about them fast then call the game.”

“These are not the threats we need to worry about,” Luna said, glaring at Parker. “These girls are the guardians against evil, not human threats.”

Parker glared at the cat, then turned to Usagi. “You’re the princess, right? Make the call.”

Usagi yelped, jumping back. “M-Me?! I can’t even throw a punch, and you’re asking me to decide what to do about this?”

“He’s right to,” Setsuna said, smiling at the girl. “You made many wise decisions when I came from. Whatever decision you make, I will follow.”

“It’s alright Usagi,” Luna said, rubbing up against the girl. “I know you’ll make the right decision.”

Usagi froze, her mind running through all the possibilities. She’d never thought a person could be a threat before, at least not one that wasn’t transformed by the Negaforce. The youma were the threat she was used to, the one that she was always trying to fight. Yet here she was, knowing that there were new threats in her life…

“We won’t fight them,” Usagi said, staring at Parker. Luna smiled, nodding. At least until Usagi said, “But we are going to make sure they aren’t a threat.” Luna let out a confused meow, Parker was too busy grinning to care. “Tomorrow, while we’re at the academy, you need to talk to them. If they aren’t a threat, we don’t need to fight them.”

“Well, can’t disobey royalty,” Parker said, shrugging. “Gunner, Deadeye, you two stakeout by the academy. Anything happens, you support them and get them out. Usagi, I want you to practice with that pen inside the shrine -- ”

Setsuna glared at Parker. “Excuse me, but should you be referring to her as ‘kid’? It seems rather disrespectful to her majesty.”

“Well, call me when she’s finally an actual head of state,” Parker said. “Practice with that pen, make sure you can get the disguise down.”

“What about you,” Rei said. “How are you gonna find these people?”

“The shrine, the school, odds if they haven’t been to the arcade they’ll be there soon.” Parker checked around the shrine. “We’re gonna get back to our hotel, start planning things out. We’ll be grabbing you all early tomorrow, make sure you get enough sleep.”

“Right,” the girls said, clenching their fists.

“This is a little exciting,” Minako said. “It feels like we’re spies or something.”

“Even though you aren’t,” Luna said, hopping back to the ground. “Usagi, what are you thinking?”

“Hey, you said you knew I’d make the right decision,” Usagi said, glaring at Luna. “Parker’s the one who knows the most about this stuff anyway, right? Why shouldn’t we take his advice?”

“Because this isn’t our concern,” Luna said. “With the Negaforce still out there, do we really have time to worry about silly spy games?”

“It’s her decision,” Setsuna said, turning to Usagi. “We will respect it.”

“Exactly, my decision,” Usagi said, puffing out her chest and laughing. “I’m starting to like this idea of me making the big decisions!”

“And maybe you’ll lose that big head you’re getting,” Rei said.

“Hey, what’s that for,” Usagi whined. “C’mon, I’m being so mature right now!”

“As if,” Rei said. “You wouldn’t know mature if it had a sign saying what it was!”

As the two argued back and forth, Setsuna stared at the spectacle of her wise and just queen arguing with one of her closest councilors. Mamoru sighed and walked up to her. “Yeah, you’ll have to get used to it.”

As the group argued, a pair of yellow eyes poked up from the dirt under one of the shrine’s trees.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

“Moon Power! Turn us into students at Mugen Academy!” Parker stood back, watching as the girls transformed from their typical selves into six students from Mugen Academy. The pen seemed to have some kind of intelligence, because it made sure to put the girls in summer uniforms.

“Wow, these are so cute,” Rei said, spinning around in her outfit. “What do you think Hotwire?”

Hotwire grinned, shaking her head. “Maybe, but remember why you’re wearing them.”

“C’mon Hotwire, we look great in these,” Minako said, laughing as she looked herself over. “We aren’t at the Academy yet right?”

“You’ll be there soon enough,” Deadeye said. “Remember, anything happens you get out of there. Transform if you have to, but we don’t want to deal with the Negaforce and witches if we can help it.”

“Right,” Usagi said, smiling. “Are you guys gonna be okay though?”

“If things go south we’ll recall to the SGC and meet up at the shrine,” Parker said. “Contact those two, tell them to come here when they get out of school for the day. We’ll explain everything and move on from there. Any questions?”

“I have a few,” Artemis said. “Like why we’re even worrying about these two groups of agents?”

“Alright, time to move then,” Parker said, ignoring Artemis. “Everyone get back safe.”

“I can’t believe this guy,” Artemis said, glaring at Parker as the commandos split up.

“He has been mean to you and Luna as long as they’ve been here,” Minako said. “Maybe we should ask him about it?”

“Once we find Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune,” Setsuna said. “We need to hurry, we should be at the academy once it opens to find them.”

Piling into the subway, the girls smiled all the way to the closest stop to Mugen Academy. The building didn’t look like a school, it looked more like a corporate headquarters. It didn’t help that there were sixty stories all the way up, more than the group thought any school would ever need.

“I can’t believe no one questions why there’s a school with this kind of building,” Makoto said.

“I can’t believe the rest of the MVTF is rubbing off on us this quick,” Ami said. “Let’s be honest, none of us would think this was so odd that this is a special academy before we met them.”

“You’ve got a point,” Makoto said, the six walking up to the gate. “So what do we do when we find them?”

“We need to keep a low profile, right?” Rei said. Looking around the gate, she saw students starting to file toward the school. “We only need to talk to Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaiou. After that we can go back to the shrine and wait for them.”

“Then we should start looking,” Setsuma said, scanning the girls coming through gate. “This could be our only chance.”

The six acted like they were talking with each other at the front gate, spying as the students came through. No one paid any attention at first, until they noticed Setsuna staring at them as they went. Everyone of them blushed, wondering why the unfamiliar senior was looking at them the way she was.

“Uh, Setsuna,” Rei said. “I think you’re giving the wrong impression.”

“Am I?” Setsuna didn’t look confused, but her voice told them she was at least surprised. “I was only trying to make sure we didn’t miss them.”

“Maybe, but you’re staring at them all,” Rei said. “If they all notice it, they might mention it to their monster teachers.”

“Yes, of course,” Setsuna said, smiling. “Forgive me, social interaction has truthfully never been one of my strongest points.”

“Aw, that’s okay,” Usagi said, smiling up at her. “We’re your friends now, so you don’t ever have to worry about that again!”

Setsuna was struck by how frank the girl was. This was her queen, her ruler, talking to her like they were equals. How long had she been at the Time Door, on the orders of her queen? Then here she was, looking into the smiling face of her future ruler. Surrounded by the privy council that helped her rule her kingdom, all with warmth and happiness. Setsuna blushed, looking away. “Thank you, your highness.”

Ami looked back toward the gate, and gasped. “There, I think that’s them,” she said. Everyone looked over and saw the pair: A girl with long, sea green hair and a placid expression, accompanied by what you could mistake for a boy with short blonde hair and a rougish smile.

“No doubt, that’s gotta be them,” Makoto said. “Now we gotta think about how we tell them who we are.”

“I’ll handle this,” Setsuna said, walking to intercept the pair. The two looked up, trying to place Setsuna. Their reactions were different. Michiru’s eyes were analytical, trying to puzzle out the mystery in front of her. Haruka’s gaze was more defensive, sizing up a potential threat coming at them.

“Excuse me,” Setsuna said, giving a small smile. “Are you Haruka Tenou and Michiru Kaiou?”

“Maybe,” Haruka said, putting her arm in front of Michiru. “Who wants to know?”

“Pardon me,” Setsuna said, bowing. “My name is Setsuna Meioh, I was hoping to talk to both of you about a mutual interest we share.”

“Mutual interest you say,” Michiru said, looking up at Setsuna with unveiled suspicion. “How could we have mutual interests when we’ve never seen you at our school before?”

“It’s something greater than that,” Setsuna said, glancing toward the five girls. “Something from our pasts. Far in the distant memories I know we three share.”

The pair looked over to the five younger girls, all of them trying to smile but laden with awkwardness. One with two small buns on the side of her head waved, the rest tried to laugh at the encounter. “You mean,” Michiru whispered. “You’re all like us?”

“More than that,” Setsuna said. “That one, in the center? She’s the Lunar Princess.”

“No way,” Haruka gasped, her books slipping from her hand. “You mean we can stop searching?”

“We can explain everything after you’re done with school,” Setsuna said. “Come to the Hikawa Shrine in Juuban. Something bigger is at play now, something that could help us stop many disasters from coming to pass.”

“We can leave now,” Michiru said. “This is more important than -- ”

“No, we should wait,” Setsuna said, holding up a hand. “There are others involved, allies that have pledged to help us. They can explain everything that’s already happened, but it will take time. Come after your school lets out, and we can explain everything.”

“Alright,” Haruka said, nodding to Setsuna. “Don’t think we’ll take it well if this is some kind of trick though.”

“You have my word, it’s no trick,” Setsuna said. “Come to the shrine, we’ll explain everything.”

“Very well,” Michiru said, every word spoken like the prim and proper young woman she was. “We accept your invitation. We will see you all after school. To explain everything.”

“Thank you,” Setsuna said, bowing to the pair. “You won’t regret this, I promise you.”

“What do you think,” Haruka whispered as the green-haired woman walked off. “We’ve been searching for the princess, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that she found us?”

“I’m not sure,” Michiru replied, watching the six as they left the school gate. “They could be our enemies trying to set a trap. We’ll go to the shrine, but we’ll go prepared.”

“Agreed,” Haruka said, turning back to her girlfriend. “Whatever happens, we’ll face it together.”

“Of course,” Michiru said, leaning her head on Haruka’s arm.

* * *

“Well, that’s two hours at the bloody arcade and there’s nothing,” Bruiser said, leaning back on the seat in front of one of the older Sailor V games. “There’s what, five bloody landmarks associated with the Senshi in this neighborhood? Where the hell are they?”

“Be patient,” Hotwire said, playing at the game. “Whoever those tourists are, we should be able to make the play we need once we see them. They can’t afford to make a scene in public, not when the Japanese could clue in.”

“Don’t give me that,” Bruiser countered, scowling at Hotwire from the side. “Bloody Japanese here haven’t done anything yet. Besides, PSIA can’t act without a clear mission from the Ministry of Justice. They’re a bloody paper tiger.”

“And the Senshi are just five girls,” Hotwire said. “They were the ones who stopped the dragon, remember?”

“We helped,” Bruiser said, almost sounding like he was wounded by the fact. “Anyway, I’m with Parker and Campbell. The locals aren’t capable, they won’t even make a show of responding to all that’s happened.”

Hotwire tapped at the buttons on the cabinet, taking a moment to respond. “Then how would our world answer something like this? You think MI-5 and Scotland Yard would be able to respond to beings with this kind of power? Or that they wouldn’t freeze when faced with the fact we’re talking about children?”

“We’d still make a response,” Bruiser said. “So would Aman and Shin Bet.”

“Where there’s no political will, there’s no response,” Hotwire answered. “The Tokyo population see them as heroes, protectors. Why raise a commotion if they’re doing things popular with the people?”

“They’re technically vigilantes,” Bruiser pointed out. “Fighting things that the police can’t, fine, but not under official sanction. Add on to that, there’s the argument that they’re foreign nationals acting without the consent of the nation they’re operating in. It’s no different from the Iranians that are trying to find them, or this other group.”

“Speaking of, we don’t know who that other group is,” Hotwire said, shooting another pair of digital bad guys. “All we know is that they’re Asian, that could be anyone.”

“Well, most likely are China or North Korea,” Bruiser said. “The Soviets fell two years ago here, what’s left of the KGB and GRU would be too busy trying to figure out what to do with themselves.”

“And the Americans would put pressure on the Japanese to act for them,” Hotwire said. “Oh, hang on, I’m at the boss.”

Bruiser was about to make a snarky comment when he saw the doors open. A quartet or men with dark skin walked in, one with a full beard. “Sorry then, the Iranians just arrived.”

“Dammit,” Hotwire said, wishing she had some more time. “How’s your American?”

“I can keep it up for a few minutes,” Bruiser said, rising to intercept the Iranians. “After that, well I’ll try to do most of the talking.”

The Iranians noticed the pair approaching, stiffening a little. Bruiser and Hotwire noticed one of them reaching for the inside of his jacket. “ _Great, and they’re armed._ ” Doing his best to not react, Bruiser walked up and said in his best American accent, “Excuse me gentlemen, we need to talk.”

“Do we,” said the one reaching for his side. “What about?”

“Matters that don’t need to involve the Japanese,” Bruiser said. “Not unless we both want the locals to start asking uncomfortable questions.”

“I see,” said one of the other men, motioning his partner to calm down. “So, the Japanese don’t realize you’re here either.”

“We’re keeping our interests quiet, yes.” Bruiser checked to make sure Motoki was busy somewhere else before going on. “Any interests you might have here are not going to work for you. We’d ask that you please back away from this.”

The man sneered at Bruiser. “So, you think that even in another country, your interests take precedence over ours? I wonder if that’s why my father and uncles were part of the revolution.”

Bruiser and Hotwire skipped a beat. Revolution? What revolution? Iran was still under the shah in their world, albeit a shah heavily neutered by pressure from the UN to allow democratic reforms. What had happened in this world with this Iran? “The primary matter is these girls, isn’t it,” Bruiser said, trying to stay on track. And trying to keep his accent from slipping. “This is bigger than you can recognize. You need to back off.”

“Ah, so America decides what is and isn’t appropriate for others to know.” The bearded man shook his head at the pair. “How fortunate that the world’s policeman is here to decide the fates of others.”

World’s policeman? Something was very wrong here. The idea that America somehow had such a heavy hand in the decisions of other countries was a popular one among anti-GDI pundits, but this world had no GDI. Something had veered so far off course that trying to pin it down left Bruiser without a frame of reference beyond generic warnings.

“You need to -- ” Hotwire started to speak, only for all four men to reach into their jackets. The two commandos backed off, this was too much too fast.

“Alright, we’re leaving,” Bruiser said. His accent was starting to slip anyway, better to cut the loss and retreat. “This was our only warning. Carry on any longer and we can’t help you.” Keeping their eyes on the four, the pair left the arcade and sped for the shrine.

“Dear God, what just happened,” Hotwire said. “The moment I said anything they go for their weapons?”

“We need to check with Ami, we missed something vital,” Bruiser said, back to his typical Scottish brogue. “Christ, Parker’s gonna hate this.”

Back in the Crown, Daryush stared at the doors. “Israelis,” he whispered. “They’re working with the Israelis.”

“This mission is now priority,” Abbas said, moving for the doors. “We need to message Tehran, we need guidance and possible backup.”

“From who,” Daryush said. “The embassy detail can’t be associated with this, the repercussions would be too great.”

“And ignoring this would allow the Americans and Jews to gain further traction with whatever these things are,” Abbas growled. “We must eliminate this threat, there’s no choice.”

Hameez and Jalil looked at each other before Hameez said, “You’re suggesting we strike at them?”

“We’ve already secured what we would need,” Abbas said. “We inform our superiors and the embassy of our intent. We can secure tickets on the next available flight back to Iran, failing that to Islamabad or Kabul. What matters is that we end this threat before it can go any further.”

“Abbas, stop,” Daryush said, grabbing his partner by the shoulder. “You are thinking rashly, you must stop and process this.”

Abbas looked like he was ready to throw down, until he took a long breath and nodded. “Right, you’re right Daryush. I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Daryush said, patting his comrade on the shoulder. “You are right to worry, but striking so soon would only draw attention. We must prepare for this, fully and totally. We will only have one chance to end this threat.”

* * *

“Careful,” Ji-yoo said, glancing over his shoulder as they walked Juuban. “Two of the Americans are coming this way.”

Bong-Cha swept her camera around and saw them, the angry looking American with the buzzcut and another with a less severe expression. “No need to worry, they’ll walk right by.” At least, Bong-Cha hopped that’s what would happen. So it was her luck the one with the buzzcut waved at her.

“Hey, got a second?” His voice was a fine mix of haughty and bemused. Bong-Cha already wanted to put her fist through his lopsided grin. “So, we’re just trying to make sure. Chinese or Korean?”

Bong-Cha tried to keep the tourist act up and said, in a confused voice, “Oh, uh, we Korean.”

“Got it,” Parker said. “Okay, you can drop the act lady. We’re not idiots.”

Bong-Cha’s innocent smile vanished, turning into a hard scowl at the pair. “Fine, no more act. What do you both want?”

“We’re asking you to lay off of this,” Parker said. “This is our play, any trouble and the locals might get suspicious of all of us being here. Leave this one alone, and we’ll all be better for it.”

“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Bong-Cha answered, not backing down from the American’s attempt at intimidating her. “To start, you were the ones who failed to inform us about this. Or the Japanese, it seems. How well do you think they would react to your country being a part of this?”

The man chuckled. “Lady, my country isn’t involved at all. Think of this as some friendly advice though. This thing can spiral very hard and very fast, and you won’t be ready for it if it does. You need to back off, or a lot of people are gonna wind up hurt.”

Bong-Cha nodded to Ji-yoo. Her partner nodded, taking off his cap and waving it. In seconds, the two Westerners were surrounded by ten Koreans. “I think it’s clear we won’t be leaving this alone,” Bong-Cha said. “Unless you can tell us why we should?”

The American scowled, glaring down on Bong-Cha. “The Senshi aren’t some weapon that your enemies can use against you, and they aren’t going to be a weapon for you either. Whatever you think you’re gonna get out of this, it won’t happen.”

“Then we’ll see what we do get out of it,” Bong-Cha answered. “Seeing as you’re confronting us about it, I believe the Japanese don’t know you’re here either. Perhaps you had best step away from our actions, unless we both have to explain to the PSIA why we’re both in their country under false pretenses?”

The crewcut American glared down at Bong-Cha, then whispered, “Everything that happens next? It’s on you.” Nodding to his companion, the American stormed off, cutting a wide swathe through the crowds.

“That was direct, even for Americans,” Ji-yoo said, the Koreans dissipating through the street again. “Should we alert Seoul?”

“After we investigate,” Bong-Cha said. “The Americans acting like this on Japanese soil? Even they aren’t so blind that they think they would be free to do it.”

A half-block away, Patch followed behind Parker. “What do you think?”

“They’re either gonna fly back home or start something at the shrine,” Parker said. “Look in her eyes, it’s gonna be the shrine.”

“Hino won’t appreciate this,” Patch said. “This is the second time that shrine will have trouble.”

“Better trouble from a bunch of idiots than more monsters,” Parker said. “C’mon, let’s get back.”

* * *

Haruka pulled her car up across the street from the shrine, looking up the steps toward the tori leading to it. “The moment of truth,” she said. “Are you ready?”

“There’s nothing else I could be,” Michiru said, exiting the car. “I wonder though, should be prepared for a kind of fight here?”

“Maybe,” Haruka said. “If anything happens, run back to the car and transform. I’ll hold them off and wait for you to get back.”

“Ever the cavalier,” Michiru said, giving her love a smile as Haruka walked around the front of the car. “Don’t you think you’d have made the dashing knight in another time?”

“That makes you the sheltered lady doesn’t it?” Haruka pulled Michiru close, both of them savoring the moment before moving for the steps.

They saw Setsuna waiting for them at the top, wearing a purple suit and red bow. “Thank you both for coming here,” she said, bowing. “This way, they’re inside the temple.”

Haruka and Michiru followed, still watching the area around them. They still weren’t sure about the claim Setsuna had made about being like them, their minds still pondering the possibility of a trap. A shrine like this was supposed to make a person feel calm, secure. The kind of feeling their enemies could easily turn against them.

Opening the door, Setsuna motioned the pair inside. It was dark, filled with shadows. “What’s going on,” Haruka asked. “Where are they?”

“Right here!”

The pair stared as the lights came on, revealing the five Senshi and Tuxedo Mask standing in formation before them.

“We are the pretty guardians of love and justice,” Usagi called out. “Fighting as one, dedicated to protecting the weak and -- ”

“What the hell are you doing?”

Haruka and Michiru turned to see a man with a crew cut storming into the room. “What are you girls doing? Just tell them what’s going on and who you are.”

“That’s what we were doing,” Usagi said, looking confused. “We were introducing ourselves!”

“By putting on a show?” Parker groaned, rubbing at his eyes. “Just tell’em that you’re the princess already?”

“Well you kinda ruined it,” Rei said, glaring at Parker. “What was wrong with what we were doing anyway?”

“Do not speak to her majesty like this,” Setsuna said, stepping forward. “This was her decision to greet Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune this way.”

“Then what the hell was all the posing for?” Parker pointed at the pair. “They’re here, they know she’s the princess, let’s move on.”

“Maybe if you let the girls do what they felt was right,” Luna said, padding into the room with Artemis. “Or would you like to continue where Capt. Campbell let off!”

“Stuff it mouse-breath!”

The room devolved into a shouting match, the serenity of the temple shattered by the back and forth. Haruka and Michiru watched, unable to speak, as the five senshi argued with the American as the pair of cats tried to call for order and berated the man. Setsuna glared at Parker, Parker tried to get across why the whole act was unnecessary, Usagi and Minako argued back that it wasn’t going to kill anyone either.

“This is not what I was expecting,” Michiru said, trying to remain composed in the mess. “Still, at least we finally found the princess.”

“Yeah, I don’t think this is a trap anymore either,” Haruka said. “This is too disorganized.”

After five more minutes of back-and-forth, Parker turned to Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna. “Anyway, you three are senshi right? They showed you theirs.”

“You want us to transform?” Haruka grinned, pulling out a pen. “Very well, here we go!”

“Uranus Star Make Up!”

“Neptune Star Make Up!”

“Pluto Star Make up!”

The girls were enraptured, watching their new comrades transform into their fukus. Uranus and Michiru wound up posing with each other, Pluto standing apart with a staff in hand. Usagi smiled and looked to Parker, only to see him staring at his watch. “Eleven seconds,” he murmured. “What the hell were those idiots thinking?”

“Now it’s your turn,” Haruka said, turning to Parker. “What can you do?”

“We can look at this mess like normal people,” Bruiser said. “Speaking of, we’ve got a problem.”

“Wait, normal people?” Michiru’s eyes narrowed at the group. “Who are you? You aren’t reincarnated from the Lunar Kingdom?”

“No, we’re more your friendly local multiversal travelers,” Gunner said, giving the pair a wide smile. “Ask her, she’ll tell you.”

The pair turned to stare at Setsuna, who nodded. “It sounds fantastic, but consider that you are the reincarnated souls of the warriors of the Lunar Kingdom.”

“But they aren’t senshi, or even reincarnated souls,” Michiru said. “This is too dangerous for them, they shouldn’t be here.”

“Too dangerous?” Makoto half-laughed at the words. “These guys are commandos, they’ve fought against a dragon with us.”

“They’re still human,” Haruka said. “The enemies we fight can corrupt them, turn them against us. It’s for their own safety, we can’t let them fight with us.”

“Hey, we’re park of the same team here,” Parker said, glaring at Haruka and Michiru. “If it wasn’t for us, you’d both be feeling around in the dark for a lead.”

“We would’ve found our way without you,” Haruka said, balling her fists. “You don’t have any powers or gifts, right? You don’t stand a chance against the kind of threats we face. You’re too weak!”

“Hey!” Everyone turned at the angry tone Usagi had, glaring at Haruka and Michiru. “Parker might not be perfect. He’s mean, obnoxious, and a lot of the time he says things that are offensive to a lot of people.”

“Please,” Parker said. “Stop helping me.”

“But,” Usagi said, smiling. “He’s also a brave and honest man. All of Dead Six have put their lives on the line for us, and we’d do the same for them. They’re as much our friends as we are to each other.” Parker blinked, turning to the rest of his team. The other commandos shrugged, they hadn’t expected this either.

Usagi reset her face into a hard stare and pointed at the Outer Senshi. “I am the Moon Princess, and that means what I order goes. So, I say the MVTF are our allies and friends, and will be treated as such!”

Haruka, Michiru, and Setsuna all looked at each other. They didn’t seem to be able to process that normal human beings were willing to fight their war, or even capable of doing it. Yet their princess had just given them a command, and they were her senshi. They would obey.

“Understood,” Haruka said, bowing her head. “They’re our friends and allies. Even if Parker seems like a massive jerk.”

“Well you’re about to deal with bigger ones,” Parker said, turning to Usagi. “Listen kid, there’s been a snag. The Iranians and Koreans aren’t backing off.”

“Wow, I thought they were Chinese,” Rei thought aloud.

“But why are they here,” Ami asked. “And more importantly, why are they focused on us?”

“This is just a guess,” Patch said. “Iran and South Korea both have their embassies in Juuban. All the activity around this area must have piqued their interests, at least in terms of trying to figure out what was happening.”

“Which leads to a question we have,” Hotwire said. “The Iranian agents, they were hostile toward Bruiser when he tried to speak in an American accent. Then I spoke up and they nearly went for their weapons.”

“Oh no,” Ami groaned. “It’s because you’re Israeli. In our world, Israel and Iran are hostile to each other. Iran’s current government has even said they want to see Israel destroyed.”

“Great, now we’ve got targets on our backs,” Bruiser said.

“What about the Koreans,” Parker said. “They were acting like we were stepping on their turf.”

“I can only guess,” Ami said, thinking for a second. “But South Korea is still at war with the North. Depending on how they view our actions, they may see our powers as a way to end the war.”

“Great, so neither group is gonna back down from this one.” Pacing around the temple, Gunner looked back to Setsuna. “I don’t suppose we can just go back and stop them before they ever left?”

“I cannot interfere with time,” Setsuna said. “To go back and change the past can lead to dangerous consequences for everyone.”

“Another way to stop being late gone,” Usagi grumbled.

“Maybe there’s another way,” Minako said. “These agents are searching for us. What if we found them, tried to talk to them?”

“That’s a hell of a roll of the dice,” Parker said. “This could turn into a shooting match, and last I checked four out of five didn’t do so great on the range.”

“But it could stop them from being hurt,” Usagi said, looking up at Minako. “It could even give us more friends!”

“Friends?” Parker blinked at the idea like he was trying to make it go away. “Usagi, you need to think really hard about saying that about people like this.”

“But they’re people like you, aren’t they?” Usagi looked up with her big near-innocent eyes at Parker. “Why can’t they be our friends too?”

Parker struggled for words for a few seconds, unable to give a reason after what Usagi had thrown down. Lucky for him, Hotwire stepped in. “Usagi, you need to understand that this isn’t going to be like how the MVTF works,” she said. “These agents are here to determine whether or not you and your friends are a threat to their nations and interests. They are trained to do whatever they need to in potentially hostile situations to survive and escape. If they see any of you as a threat, they’ll act. They already know you’re associated with this shrine, with the Crown Game Center, and with Juuban Middle School. What happens if they figure out who you are? Who your families are?”

“Then we need to eliminate them,” Haruka said. “Stop all of them from endangering us, and make sure they can’t report back to their superiors.”

“Okay, also a bad idea,” Hotwire said, staring at Haruka. “Dead agents in foreign territory going after known targets? You’ll potentially call down more trouble as they try to figure out what happened. Worse, they’ll pressure the Japanese government to start looking into why their nationals were killed in the middle of Tokyo. Once they connect you to those deaths, you’re targets.”

“Then that’s a better reason to show them we can be friends,” Usagi said. “We can show that we aren’t a threat, and that they don’t have to try and hurt us.”

Parker cringed, looking back to his team. The five commandos didn’t look like they knew what to say, a strange sensation for the hardened operators. Parker typically felt like he had good points to make when he thought someone was making a bad decision, usually with copious sarcasm. Yet here he was, staring down at a fifteen-year old schoolgirl and couldn’t think of an argument to make.

“This may be for the best,” Luna said, padding up. “After all -- ”

“I’m talking to Usagi,” Parker growled.

“And I say we should try to talk to them,” Usagi said. “We’ll only know if we meet with them, face to face. Otherwise, we’re proving to them that we can’t be trusted.”

“Usagi, I want you to think very hard about this,” Parker said, putting himself at eye level to Usagi. “If this goes wrong, you’ll be risking your life. I need you to really think about what you might be about to do.”

Usagi paused, realizing Parker wasn’t being his usually sarcastic self. Each word was genuine, asking her if she really was sure about what she was about to do. The shift was jarring, trying to rectify the smart-mouthed commando that treated fighting a dragon like unclogging a sink. Here he was, face level with Usagi, asking her if she was sure her decision. The swerve was shocking, putting it lightly.

“ _I’ve never seen him act like this before,_ ” Usagi said. “ _He’s usually so gruff and sarcastic. I can’t imagine he’s so worried about this for nothing._ ”

“Alright,” Usagi said, nodding. “I promise, you’ll be nearby when we talk to these people.”

Parker grimaced, but nodded back. “Alright, I’ll have to accept that. Figure out where and how you want to do this, we’ll back you up.”

Usagi smiled, turning to the Outer Senshi. “Alright, now you can see how the MVTF handles a problem!”

Michiru sighed, Haruka striking what could only be described as a pretty boy’s pose when he gives up. “I suppose we will, won’t we?”


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Mattock kept his watch on the shrine, observing the comings and goings of the family that ran it and their friends. He could feel the energy of the Senshi on the grounds, the power they possessed flowing freely around him. The trick was finding the true source. The Senshi were great warriors, he remembered seeing their power during the battles in the Lunar Kingdom. Anyone who tried to confront them without overwhelming numbers or necessary subterfuge was destroyed, left to rot in the ruins of a falling kingdom.

He watched as the normal humans made their way out of the shrine, the muscular ones that were in the company of the girls that were friends with the shrine maiden. Three more had joined them in the past two days, coming and going and occasionally getting into arguments with the muscular ones. They shouted words at each other like, “Incapable”, “Green”, “Suicidal”. One of the muscular humans looked and acted like he was always ready to fight someone else around him, even his purported friends.

Humans, the sad energy containers. The youma had seen humanity at its highest and lowest, and found it wanting. A species ruled by base impulse in even its greatest “triumphs”. Why the senshi, such great warriors, refused to see this truth escaped him.

From his post he watched as the humans split up. A raven-haired girl went with the woman with short dark hair. The brown-haired girl with the ponytail went out alongside the bald human with one eye. The rest of the muscular humans remained at the shrine, talking with the little old human and the shaggy-haired fool.

The time wasn’t right, not yet. If Mattock attacked now, he’d be destroyed. No, he needed to wait. Maestro had been destroyed, and he had taken control of the humans the Senshi had fought with. No, he needed to try something else. An idea had already formed in the back of his head, and he traced the energy of the group of humans that had come through the shrine before, the ones dressed like tourists but with the energy of killers. Then there was the other group, the ones who wore suits but carried themselves ready for battle. Yes, the plan was forming in his mind. He remembered what the Senshi were, how they fought.

He dug his way deeper under the tree and under the shrine. “Now, where are you, my little accomplices…”

* * *

Abbas nodded at the café waitress as he took his tea, noticing Jalil staring a few seconds too long as the woman went back inside. “You know she isn’t Persian.”

“Ah, but to appreciate beauty is universal,” Jalil said, smiling as he picked up his own cup. “How much longer do you think they’ll be?”

“The response from our superiors should have arrived by now,” Abbas said. “Daryush and Hameez said they would meet us in ten minutes, we should -- ”

The ground started to shake. The locals fired on in rapid Japanese, something about an “earthquake”. “By Allah,” Jalil groaned. “How can any country live in this kind of land?”

Abbas was about to answer when he realized the shaking was getting stronger. Only when he looked across the street, he realized no one was shaking of panicking. Something was shaking the ground underneath _them!_

The sidewalk buckled, water bursting from the pipes beneath them as a mound started to build under their table. The two men jumped away, but Abbas forced his hand away from his pistol. They were still technically embassy attaches, drawing a weapon would destroy that cover.

Laughter, rising above the shifting masonry. Staring at the mound, he watched as a metal pick erupted from the crumbling concrete. A dark-green beast started to clamber out of the ruined sidewalk in front of the café, a hulking brute with iris-less yellow eyes.

“You should’ve known this would happen,” the monster growled, stalking toward Abbas. The people around him screamed and scattered, Abbas half-realizing this was like that _Kamen Rider_ show he’d seen while he’d been in the country. “You searched for the Senshi, and this is what you get for it!” The beast roared as its pick came down at Abbas, the operative rolling out of the way half a second before the pick punched through five inches of concrete.

Ripping the pick-arm clean, Abbas watched as the flat end of the monster’s arm swung at him in a backhand. Scrambling up, Abbas heard more screams as the monster destroyed a table that was still standing.

Jalil roared, slamming one of the chairs out front into the back of the beast. The monster answered, using its left claw to bat Jalil into a car parked on the street. That was enough time for Abbas to grab a hunk of concrete and try to fight back.

The beast laughed again, stalking forward. “Did you really think you could try and find the Senshi and not face consequences? This is what you get for being so damn nosy!”

Another swipe, destroying the front of Abbas’ suit jacket. Abbas cursed, if he lost his jacket he lost his only real cover. Worse, he could hear the sirens approaching.

The monster sneered, its broad flat nose flaring as it towered over the two Iranians. “You’ve been warned,” it sneered. “Continue this, and you’ll all suffer.” Running its pick along the sidewalk, the monster forced Abbas to cover his eyes from the onslaught of debris. By the time he could see again, the beast had disappeared underground.

“Jalil,” Abbas said, hurrying over to his comrade. “Jalil, talk to me, tell me how you feel!”

“Ugh,” Jalil groaned, head rolling from side to side. “Are we…Are we compromised?”

  
“No,” Abbas said, hoisting the man up over his shoulder. “We need to escape, there will be too many questions. Come, keep awake.”

“My head,” Jalil groaned, stagging along beside Abbas. “My head hurts.”

“It’s fine, we’ll take you to the embassy,” Abbas said. At least, he prayed he could. Jalil’s unsteady gait made it hard to move, and Abbas feared there was more damage to his fellow operative than he could see. They needed a doctor, one they could trust.

The car came around the corner, Daryush screeching to a stop as Hameez threw the back door open. “Get in, both of you!”

Abbas half-eased, half-shoved Jalil into the back, following him in and slamming the door. “The embassy, now!”

The car peeled away, fifteen seconds before the first police arrived on the scene.

* * *

Ji-yoo looked up as another police car screamed past. “That’s four,” he said. “What do you think?”

“We’ll find a radio or electronics store,” Bong-Cha said, keeping an eye on the crowd. She heard murmurs, questions, but no real answers. “It can’t be related to them, the data says they never have incidents during the day.”

“Except they confronted us yesterday in the morning,” Ji-yoo said. “This could be a change in their activity because of us.”

“A fast change,” Bong-Cha said. “We -- ”

The side of the building they were standing next to burst out, the crowd around the two screaming in terror. The part of Bong-Cha that had served wanted to see what had happened. The part of her that was trained as an operative said to stick to her role and act like a panicking civilian. Screaming a little, she covered her head as she tried to run away. A run that lasted all of five seconds before she was hit in the back of the knee by a speeding chunk of concrete.

“No, you don’t get to run,” a rumbling voice growled. Bong-Cha rolled over to see a monster stalking toward her through the dust, its right arm ending in a pickaxe and its skin looking like a living metal coating. “This is the warning to leave, and not search out the Senshi anymore!”

Bong-Cha glared at the beast, trying to hobble back up. “I -- ” The monster didn’t give her any time to answer. It charged at her, the Korean ducking as the pick side of its arm sailed over her head. Falling on her back again, Bong-Cha crawled back trying to regain her footing. The monster turned its arm around, the flat edge reared back ready to slice into Bong-Cha. She gritted her teeth and tried to force herself up, eyes locked on the weapon.

Ji-yoo tried to tackle the beast, wrapping his arm around its neck. The monster laughed, letting Ji-yoo exhaust himself before ripping him off with its left claw. Raising the man in the air, it threw him into the street, Bong-Cha watching as her friend rolled across the pavement after a bone-rattling thud. The monster laughed, yellow fangs jutting out from its lips. “That’s the consequence of your trying to seek out what you don’t deserve,” it growled. “If you keep coming after the Senshi, you’ll beg for death!”

Sirens. The monster sneered at the noise, raising its pick and forcing its way down into the pavement. Still crawling back, Bong-Cha hobbled to Ji-yoo, the rest of their team trying to act panicked while still observing everything. “Ji-yoo, Ji-yoo I need you to speak to me!”

“Uuggggnh,” Ji-yoo groaned. “My chest…Can’t breathe…”

“Take it easy,” Bong-Cha said. “The police are on the way, you’ll be in the hospital soon.”

“That thing…That thing…” Ji-yoo tried to finish his words, but they were caught in his chest each time. Bong-Cha had seen this before, bruised ribs at the least. He was out of the game for now.

“Easy, easy,” Bong-Cha said, hearing the police approach. She worked fast, welling up some tears and forcing herself to appear hysterical. “Are you ready?” Ji-yoo nodded, and Bong-Cha took a long breath to scream, “Help! Help me please! Someone help me!”

* * *

Kunzite watched the chaos. The two groups of humans seemed to be searching for the Senshi, and whatever Mattock had planned they would be key. That was fine, Kunzite was willing to watch how the play unfolded. He had other things on his mind.

“This offer,” he said, not turning back to look at the disguised human. “This isn’t for my benefit. What does he get from accepting me into his movement?”

“A keen tactical mind to start,” the human answered. “At this stage you are the only one of the Four Generals to last against the Senshi in any meaningful way, and have adapted quickly against the MVTF’s actions.”

“Only through necessity,” Kunzite grumbled. “If he wanted my aid, why sneak behind Queen Beryl’s back? Why risk this?”

“The same reason you’re willing to listen,” the human answered. “Beryl sacrificed so many of her most valued assets. In exchange the Senshi have only grown in strength and skill, with hardly any energy to show for it. Jadeite, Nephrite, and then Zoisite? Along with some of the greatest youma in your ranks?” The human dared to look up. “What has it all be for it this is the leader you sacrifice your efforts toward?”

Kunzite was silent. Beryl had led them against the Lunar Kingdom so many millennia ago, guiding their actions against Queen Serenity and her lapdogs. Despite it, Kunzite couldn’t quiet the little voice in his mind pointing out that the human was speaking a truth he’d slowly grown to admit in his deepest heart.

“When this fight is over, you know the Beryl cannot last. She’s grown unstable, mercurial in temperament and action. As you forge ahead, she still remains on her throne waiting for the prize to be won from the work you’ve accomplished. That Zoisite accomplished.”

Kunzite glanced back at the glass casket. “You speak of treason.”

“I speak of survival,” the human replied. “You recognize what Beryl does not. The Senshi and their human allies grow stronger, while the Negaforce falters at each turn. Zoisite was the only one who secured any true victories, and what was their reward?”

“Watch yourself,” Kunzite said, his expression dark. “You remain here only because I allow you to.”

“Of course,” the human said, bowing. “Understand, the Brotherhood does not wish to see wasted potential.”

“Your flattery will do nothing,” Kunzite growled. “Unless I see what your group is capable of, I will not decide on your offer.”

“My presence here isn’t proof of our capabilities?” The human looked up at Kunzite, a Cheshire grin on his face. “We have already infiltrated many more universes, each day more loyal brothers and sisters flock to the banner of Nod.”

“Then what are you waiting for,” Kunzite said, turning on the human. “Show me these forces, then we can drown the Senshi in bodies and end them!”

“You know better than to think that,” the human said. “Don’t you remember the war against the Lunar Kingdom? What happened to your forces when you launched your attack?”

Kunzite turned away, ignoring the barb. “Then what can you offer me?”

“Intelligence,” the human said. “For example, we know the Senshi’s allies are planning a full assault on this location.”

“What?” Kunzite spun around, glaring at the human. “That’s impossible, there’s no way they could find our portal!”

“Not without help,” the human said. “The MVTF is a unified force, sharing intelligence and information of all kinds with each other.”

“This can’t be possible,” Kunzite whispered, eyes wide at the thought. “They would wipe themselves out, they couldn’t survive the journey to the portal!”

“Their allies have advanced technologies, and magic capable of enhancing these creations. They know of the Negaforce’s ability to corrupt and control as well. They will not make the same mistakes twice.”

Kunzite glared at the human, turning back to his view of the shrine. “Get out. If I wish to speak, I will summon you.”

“As you wish, Gen. Kunzite.” The human backed into the shadows, leaving Kunzite to try and decide how to handle the information he received.

“ _It can’t be possible,_ ” he thought, glaring at the shrine. “ _The Senshi are still children, fools! And Endymion, the traitor! How can they be capable of launching an attack on us?_ ” Forcing any fear from his mind, Kunzite kept his focus on the image of the shrine.

* * *

Parker and Makoto glared at the sight, the street cordoned off by police tape and officers taking statements. “What’re they saying?” he asked.

“The police are asking what happened,” Makoto said. “The witnesses are saying a monster did it, a great green monster with a weapon instead of a hand.”

“And the monster went after the agents,” Parker said, scowling as he watched a trio of cops ponder the blown-out storefront. “This is bad.”

“I know, all these people in danger,” Makoto said.

“Think about the team remember,” Parker said. “This thing attacked what looked like a bunch of civilians in the middle of the day, it forced the police to respond.”

“And it attacked the agents,” Makoto said, starting to put the pieces together in her head. “Wait, why attack the agents?”

“Exactly,” Parker said. “We don’t know what happened, but there’s gonna be questions from a lot of people. We need to get back to the shrine and hunker down, we’re gonna have trouble tonight.”

* * *

All nations have a black market. Illegal criminal enterprises capable of securing, transporting, and delivering any manner of goods. Sometimes these goods sicken the people who learn of them; women, children, organs. Often the black market trades in more common stock; drugs, information, contracts for killers.

Guns are a borderline commodity on that market. In America, for example, a gun can be bought from the back of a car, for less money than it costs to by decent prescription drugs. In Afghanistan, the mountains are filled with villages where each man and boy learns to use the AK-47s captured from the Soviets and their lapdogs. In England, the criminal syndicates keep a pulse on the weapons trade, careful to not catch the eye of the police.

Japan is not a fan of firearms. Even among the Yakuza, guns are considered a special resource instead of a common tool. Finding a buyer willing to sell can be difficult, let alone securing the ammunition needed. The only thing stopping them is money. Of course, intelligence agencies try to make sure their people go in prepared.

Bong-Cha had prepared her team by snapping up several MP5 SMGs from a dealer tied to the _Inagawa-kai_. She would’ve preferred the MP5K, but that would’ve been too costly to secure on his timeframe. She’d also ensured her people had balaclavas, ditching their tourist wear for the night.

Abbas had opted to buy from a branch of the _Wo Shing Wo_ triad, securing three Type 56 rifles. They were knockoffs of the venerable AK-47, but they would do for a night like this. He decided to play it safe and secured some Type 54 pistols from the seller, in case the Senshi tried to get in close.

Bong-Cha checked the layout of the shrine over one more time. Fighting there would draw the attention of the Senshi, forcing their hands to respond. She’d already received the go from Seoul, an attack on one of their own would not go unpunished. The team would strike inside, with two observing and potentially providing cover from one of the buildings across from it.

Abbas cared more about the pictures of the Senshi and a rough description of their capabilities. The one that worried him most was the one that could use some kind of area-effect taser. Being dropped by that device could result in his team being captured by the Japanese authorities, and no amount of diplomatic credentials would cover for being caught on Japanese soil with illegal Chinese-made weapons. He couldn’t wait for Tehran to give him the all clear. One of his men had been injured by an enemy, and he wasn’t about to leave that offense alone.

Neither group was taking this lightly. Such an action in a nation like Japan would draw attention, and neither nation could afford to be seen as hostile to Japan’s interests. South Korea already had a rocky enough relationship with Japan, even if they both were under the US aegis of Pacific allies. Likewise, Iran’s already tenuous international position could be further undercut. The US could turn this around into a propaganda coup, claiming that Iran couldn’t be trusted.

This was countered in the minds of both teams by the fact that the Senshi had attacked _them_. If the Americans were in on this action, along with the Israelis, this was an attempt on their efforts. This wasn’t something either group could leave alone, not without showing that they were able and willing to respond in kind. The Senshi and their allies could be blatant, and that was something both groups would have to accept. This? This was still their world.

Besides, they were a bunch of girls in stupid outfits. How dangerous could they really be?


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

Makoto hummed to herself, checking the over in Rei’s kitchen. They were all gathered together that night, Parker had said it needed to happen. That was fine, it gave her a chance to cook for everyone. She’d been dying to try out some Italian recipes, and what better to feed a big group of people?

“Smells good in here,” Gunner said, grinning as he walked into the kitchen. “What’ve you got?”

“Homemade lasagna with fresh tomato sauce and garlic bread,” Makoto said. “I added a spice mix to the meat too, I hope it turns out okay.”

“Sounds delectable,” Gunner said, taking a big whiff of the smells in the kitchen. “Better be careful though, you’re liable to make any future boyfriends nice and fat with cooking that smells this good.”

“Really?” Makoto blushed, turning her face away. “I mean, I wouldn’t mind it, but that’s a lot to think about.”

Gunner hit a mental blank for a second. He was used to a back-and-forth banter about now, Makoto taking a shot at him _not_ having any relationships before he gave her flak about being a girlish tomboy. The idea that she’d take the compliment as a compliment alone wasn’t something he was used to.

“Hey, smells good Makoto,” Artemis said, padding into the kitchen. “How much longer?”

“Should only be a few minutes,” Makoto said, turning to the cat. “Tell everyone that they’d better be hungry, they’re plenty for all of us.”

“I’ll tell’em,” Gunner said, stomping out of the kitchen.

“Huh, that’s weird,” Makoto said, watching him leave. “He seemed happy a second ago.”

“I’m noticing Dead Six don’t much like Luna and I,” Artemis said, glaring out the door. “It’s getting a little annoying.”

“Maybe it’s a thing about going into the multiverse,” Makoto said. “Neither one of you have been out there on a mission yet, maybe they don’t think you’re tough enough.”

“They don’t seem to treat Mamoru the same way,” Artemis pointed out. “Or the Outer Senshi. They only really get that way when we’re around.”

“Well I couldn’t tell you why,” Makoto said, putting on a pair of mitts. “Maybe they aren’t cat people.”

“If that were all it is, I’d be fine with it,” Artemis said, turning back to the living room.

The room was packed, the three Outer Senshi crammed onto a couch watching as Usagi argued with Rei about a manga. “I told you to give this back weeks ago,” Rei shouted. “And look at it! You got water stains all over it, what were you doing?”

“I wanted to read it when I took a bath,” Usagi shouted back. “It wasn’t my fault my brother left the shower nozzle on instead of the faucet.”

“Goodness,” Michiru said, covering her mouth. “Are they always like this?”

“From what we’ve seen,” Patch said, leaning on a wall next to them. “This is normal.”

“This is quite a difference,” Setsuna said, her confused eyes watching as the two started to literally butt heads. “The queen I knew was regal, wise, and would always trust Sailor Mars to give her wise advice.”

Sitting on the floor in front of the couch, Ami and Minako said together, “Maybe a hundred years from now.”

“Okay, dinner’s ready,” Makoto said, carrying out a massive tray of lasagna and fresh steaming garlic bread. “Take as much as you want, I made enough for everyone.”

“Thanks Makoto,” Deadeye said, smiling as she sliced up the pasta. “Looks bloody delicious.”

“That’s what I said,” Gunner chuckled, propping himself up next to the window.

“It really does look good,” Haruka said, walking up to Makoto. “Able to cook and a beautiful face. It really is a pleasure to know you.” Makoto blushed again, but what Haruka didn’t see was the death glares she was getting from all of Dead Six.

“I think while we eat, we should understand why we’re here,” Luna said, sitting on Mamoru’s lap. “I thought this monster was targeting the agents you said were a threat.”

“It did,” Parker said, waiting as the girls all got their dinner. “Meaning these guys are still gonna be a threat. Hell, they’re probably on their way here right now.”

“I don’t understand,” Mamoru said. “You said this was a youma that attacked them. Why would they be coming here?”

“Response,” Parker said. “We warned them to stay away, then they get attacked by a monster. If they don’t do anything, they look like they broke and couldn’t respond effectively. They think the US is involved, and to the Iranians? If we’re hostile to them here they want to take that initiative against us.”

“What about the South Koreans,” Setsuna said. “They’re staunch allies with America in this world, they shouldn’t have a reason to attack.”

“Same principle, different mindset,” Parker answered. “They might be allies with us, but this is Japan. They might think they have as much a right to be here as the US would. They’d still want to show they’re as hard as the Iranians, only in this case to show the US they aren’t whipping boys.”

“That’s it, the first rule I’m making when I’m queen? None of this silly spy stuff,” Usagi groaned, mouth half-full of lasagna. “This is all too complicated.”

“We’ll take the first watch,” Parker said, nodding to Deadeye. “Gunner, Patch, you’ll take the four hours after us.”

“Hold on, you expect us to all stay here?” Michiru asked, looking confused. “You can’t possibly expect all of us to -- ”

“They do,” Minako groaned. “This is why you asked us to all bring futons, isn’t it?”

Parker grinned, checking his pistol. “I’m being nice, I could’ve let you all fight for the pillows.”

* * *

Abbas parked the car across the street from the shrine’s steps, and checked his weapons.

“Remember we’re only sending them a warning,” Daryush said, pulling his bandana over his face. “We don’t need to go farther than that.”

“I’ll decide how far we go,” Abbas said, glaring at the tori. He wasn’t normally religious, but the idea of infidels had decided to rear up with his fury. Pulling up his own bandana, he threw on the dark sunglasses. “Move.”

On the opposite side of the temple, Bong-Cha was the first to jump the fence into the shrine. Keeping her weapon up, she listened as her team made their way inside. Her balaclava pulled tight over her face, she waited for two taps on the shoulder before moving forward. Everyone was over now. Well, everyone except the injured Ji-yoo.

Mattock watched it all from his hideout, feeling the two groups of human energy moving toward the shrine. He grinned, not expecting both groups to come at the same time. Then he sensed it, energy coming from where the humans had gathered. This was perfect, now the Senshi would reveal themselves and be wrapped up in the fight against the humans. Smiling, Mattock dug his way to a fresh position.

“What do you think,” Parker whispered. “About what you expected?”

“One’s a ladies lady, one’s a bloody noblewoman, and the third is convinced Usagi is a queen. It all sounds about right.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Parker said. “Did you watch the episodes where they make appearances? They’re some true believers.”

Gunner inhaled with a hiss. “That bad?”

“They wanted to kill a kid,” Parker said. “I’d call that pretty bad.”

“Wait, they wanted to kill her?” Gunner shook his head. “They aren’t that much older than the girls, hell I don’t think they had a worse life than any of them. Why are they going right to the idea of murder?

“No idea,” Parker said, thinking on the idea. “It’s weird too. Usagi and her friends don’t want to kill anyone, but they’ll waste a monster without thinking about it.”

Mattock scowled as the two came close. “That’s true,” Gunner said as they came close. “Campbell’s report said Minako couldn’t even handle holding a gun. Thing is, it was against one of the monsters.”

“Yeah, good point,” Parker said. “I’m starting to get an idea Gunner, and I don’t like it.”

“Same one we’ve all been getting,” Gunner replied. “Thing is, how do we prove it?”

“Wish I knew,” Parker said, shaking his head. “For all our sakes.”

Back in the living room, Minako stared up at the ceiling as she lay on her futon. “It’s been an interesting week, hasn’t it?”

“That’s putting it lightly,” Rei said, laying down on her pillow. She turned to Michiru and Haruka and said, “Sorry things are so crazy right now.”

“It isn’t quite under your control,” Michiru said, face placid as she got under the blanket on her futon. “Though I must admit, knowing you’ve been fighting alongside non-senshi has us both confused.”

“Well, maybe at first it was,” Minako said. “We’ve still made plenty of friends in the MVTF.”

“Like that big party in Fairy Tail’s guild hall,” Makoto said, smiling at the memory. “That was such a great time, I never wanted it to stop.”

“Or when O’Neill showed us those funny movies,” Rei said. “Remember, the Three Stooges?”

“And Alice didn’t get it,” Ami said, giggling as soft as she could. “I hope we can find a movie she can understand soon, it’s not as fun if everyone can’t enjoy it.”

“This MVTF, it sounds like there’s a lot of people in it,” Haruka said, taking a seat next to Michiru. “How’d they last this long if you’re the only Senshi?”

“Oh, there’s other people who have magic,” Minako said. “MV-1 are wizards with Fairy Tail, the strongest guild in their home world. Then there’s MV-2, Al and May are alchemists.”

“And MV-3, they can control the elements,” Rei said. “Along with MV-7, but we don’t know enough about their magic to really explain it.”

“They still allow normal humans into it?” Haruka shook her head. “That’s too dangerous, it sounds like they want to kill themselves.”

“No way, not these people,” Makoto said. “They even taught us how to fight like they do, we just got done a rifle range.”

“A what?” Setsuna looked like she’d just heard someone say there was a toxic cloud in the air in the room. “They made you use firearms?”

“Well, Gen. Hammond said that we had to,” Usagi said. “If we didn’t, he wouldn’t have let us help out anymore.”

“How dare they,” Setsuna said, glaring at the floor. “He has no right to make such demands of you.”

“He was only trying to help,” Minako said. “One of the teams had been captured when they lost their powers. He wanted to make sure we could survive if we lost them too.”

“Though it was rather unnecessary,” Luna said, sitting atop the coffee table. “Your abilities are from the Lunar Kingdom, there’s nothing magical about them. Personally, I’ll be speaking with Gen. Hammond about this when I see him next.”

“Perhaps they should understand that these matters aren’t theirs to worry about,” Michiru said, pulling her blanket up. “They are noble for their willingness to fight, but they have no concept of how powerful these foes we face are.”

Minako was about to tell them about what happened in Magnolia when they heard something outside. The Outers all rose and called out, transforming in the room. The Senshi were more cautious, diving for cover and looking for the source of the noise.

“What’s going on,” Deadeye said, running in from the kitchen with his pistol out. “What’ve we got?”

“Noises outside,” Minako said, poking her head out from behind the couch. “We -- ”

“We’ll take care of this!” Before anyone could object, Haruka leapt out the window, with a scimitar in hand. Michiru followed, holding a mirror. Pluto swung her staff through the room, throwing futons and blankets everywhere.

“What the fuck are you doing,” Deadeye shouted after them. “You idiots are gonna get killed!” Accentuating the point, gunfire ripped through the property a half-second later. Rounds tore through the windows, everyone inside ducking low.

“Bastards,” Deadeye growled, crawling toward the nearest window. “You girls transform, we’ll give you cover!”

Usagi nodded, holding up her hand. “MOON PRISM POWER! MAKEUP!”

Bong-Cha fired at the figure speeding through the trees, a flash of blonde hair skirting through the small tree cover. She thought she heard the distinct clatter of an AK in the distance, but ignored it for now. The problem was the Senshi in front of her.

“How dare you attack our princess,” the Senshi shouted. She wasn’t any of the ones Bong-Cha had studied before taking the flight to Tokyo. There were two blonde ones, but neither had short hair like this. The uniform (If it could be called that) was a different color as well, white but with a dark blue skirt and yellow bow on the front. Of course, that yellow bow made the perfect target. She followed the yellow bow through the trees, firing burst after burst.

“ _What is this,_ ” Haruka thought, jumping through the trees. “ _Don’t they realize they’re fighting the Senshi? They should just give up! Fine, I’ll show them what they’re up against._ ” Stopping, she stood straight up and held her right hand out. Bolts of energy started to coalesce in her palm, and she gripped her fist shouting, “World -- ”

Several bursts of gunfire raked her position, two rounds catching her right arm. She cried out, releasing the energy before she could use it. She blinked, staring in shock at the blood pouring from the two wounds in her bicep. “W-W-What…”

“Uranus!” Michiru jumped into the fray, holding her mirror up as she grabbed her love and pulled her away. Someone was shouting in another language, but Michiru wasn’t paying attention. “What happened?”

“T-T-They shot me,” Haruka said, staring at her arm. “I don’t, they’re just human, and they shot me?”

Michiru’s porcelain expression shifted, turning into a mask of cold fury. “They’ll regret it. Stay here, trying to cut the bleeding off.” Looking back toward the shooters, Michiru took off toward them. She sped across the stones of the shrine, glaring ahead.

Ignoring her sides.

A clattering hail of fire cut across the ground in front of her. She froze, turning to the source to see three separate flashes. “How dare you shoot her,” she shouted. “I’ll show you the power of the Sailor Senshi!” She stood up again, holding her arms above her head. “Deep Submerge!” The sphere of water formed over her hands, speeding at the three flashes in the trees. Then she realized they were scattering and still firing. The ball of compressed water exploded against one of the trees, but the fire didn’t stop.

Abbas snarled. He was a modern man, he didn’t hem to the zealotry of the Revolution even as part of the government. Despite this, the only thing that came to mind was the power of the _ifrit_. The evil magics of beings that tempted and destroyed the faithful. Before he was convinced this was some kind of play by the Americans and their Japanese lapdogs. Now he was sure he was in the presence of evil.

“These are monsters,” Daryush grumbled, reloading. “What do we do?”

“They can be wounded,” Abbas said, adjusting his sights on the green-haired monster. “They can be killed!”

Normally, the sounds of gunfire around him would send Parker toward the problem. Except right now, his attention was locked on the giant hulking monster with a pickaxe arm in front of him. He and Gunner had emptied two magazines into the monster, and it kept stalking forward. “This is a stupid idea,” Parker said, backing away from the creature. “You know the Senshi are close enough to waste your dumb ass. You know they won’t hesitate.”

“You think they’ll save you in time?” Mattock growled, stalking toward the pair. “They’re too busy with those other stupid humans shooting at each other and them. I’ll kill you, and wipe out anyone that’s left!”

“Havoc,” Gunner said, glancing at Parker. “Ideas?”

“Well look at it,” Parker said, still grinning. “You saw Raveshaw’s body right?”

“Right,” Gunner grumbled. “Only you could still shoot him.”

“Still built like a person,” Parker said. “Think the pressure points are still the same?”

Gunner groaned, holstering his pistol. “You’re paying for the drinks when we get back.”

Mattock roared. “Enough talk! Time to die!”

Parker rolled as the monster buried its pick in the ground, Gunner taking advantage and putting the monster’s left arm in an arm bar. Parker moved to do the same, forcing the beast to the ground and putting his knee on its neck. He tried to put as much pressure as he could down on the creature, but there was no give. The monster’s body was made of a slick metal, impervious to whatever force Parker and Gunner could bring. Roaring, it started dragging its pick through the ground, standing up despite the weight on the two commandos on it. Rising up, it glared at Gunner. It slammed the top of its pickaxe into Gunner’s gut, knocking the breath out of the Brit and leaving him doubled over. Parker tumbled off, watching as it raised the pick to slam into the back of Gunner’s head. Scrambling, Parker grabbed the monster’s right leg and pulled. That was enough to send the pick off course, sailing inches away from Gunner’s bald head into the stone again. The monster answered by turning on Parker, sending the commando flying with a kick. Parker couldn’t even cry out, there was no air to.

“Pathetic humans,” Mattock grumbled. “Now you learn what happens when you get involved in matters beyond your ability!”

Parker half-laughed, half-spat as he tried to stand up. “So, are there standards for it, or are you all supposed to be this ugly?” Mattock growled, deciding he’d make Parker suffer a little longer. After all, the Senshi were already occupied.

Deadeye poked his head out the window and ducked back down. “We need cover,” he said. “They’re keeping their eyes on the house, we can’t move.”

“Good thing Grandpa and Yuuichiru are deep sleepers,” Rei said. “What should we do?”

Deadeye pointed at Mercury. “Use that fog trick of yours, make it so they can’t see. We’ll move out and kill’em from there.”

“No,” Usagi shouted. “We don’t have to kill them!”

“Rules of engagement,” Deadeye barked. “They’re trying to kill us, we’re in rights to kill them.”

“That won’t solve this,” Usagi said, staring at Deadeye. “We need to show them we aren’t the bad guys!”

“Your majesty, he isn’t wrong,” Pluto said. “These people will be a threat if you let them return to their home countries.”

“That’s why we have to show them the truth,” Usagi shouted, ignoring the bullets tearing through the walls. “Not every enemy needs to be killed!”

Deadeye grunted, calling out, “Hotwire! Patch! Bruiser! Change of plans, we’re taking them alive! Don’t argue, just do it!” He glared at Usagi and growled, “You five pull your weight! If you aren’t going to fight then stay back!”

“Fine,” Makoto said. “I’ve been waiting to make these jerks pay!”

“Get to it Mercury!”

One second, Bong-Cha was firing at the cover the yellow-bow Senshi was hiding behind. She wouldn’t risk the freak getting a chance, she was going to keep the threat pinned down. She’d seen her enemy wounded, now she’d end the threat. Then the shrine’s grounds filled up with a sudden thick fog. “What is this,” one of hers shouted. “Is this a smoke grenade?”

“It’s more of their tricks,” Bong-Cha shouted. “Stay alert, move in and secure the target.” Bong-Cha moved out from behind her cover, weapon up as she moved. She could hear her team behind her, making a combat glide through the fog to the target.

She had a half-second to react, but she did react to the fist sailing toward her face. She blunted it with her SMG, barely having time to react to a right cross coming at her. Her opponent grabbed her SMG, and Bong-Cha saw it was the green-suited Senshi, Sailor Jupiter. “Put your weapon down,” she shouted. “We don’t want to fight you!”

“That’s why you wounded one of my men?” Bong-Cha pushed forward, trying to throw Jupiter off-balance.

Makoto answered by ripping the weapon from her hands. “That wasn’t us! Did the monster look anything like we do?”

Bong-Cha went to grapple with the Senshi. She didn’t need to say that the coincidence was too obvious. They were warned, then they were attacked for not listening to the warning. Thinking otherwise was tantamount to stupidity in the intelligence game.

Makoto kept dodging around the grabs and jabs, deflecting where she could until she caught one of the punches. Forcing Bong-Cha’s hand around, Makoto tried to put the Korean in a hold. “Please, we don’t want this!” Bong-Cha answered by dropping down, throwing Makoto off balance at last. The pair fell to the ground, Makoto putting some space between the agent. Glaring, Bong-Cha charged again.

Three yards away, the rest of the Senshi weren’t faring better. Minako was at least putting up a fight, but she was being pushed back by her opponent. Rei, Ami, and Usagi were the worst off. Rei made futile kicks at her opponent, trying to shove an ofuda on them. Ami was in a chokehold, trying in vain to pull the female agent’s arm away from her neck. Usagi took another cross to her left cheek, crying out as she fell. Tuxedo Mask somehow managed to lose his cane, and was trying to block the operative using it against him.

The commandos were making a better showing at least. Deadeye had already put one of his opponents down with a broken leg, and was working to finish another. Hotwire had slammed her opponent into a tree over and over, staining the bark with blood and turning a fine nose into a broken wreck. Patch was finishing choking out his opponent, and was using their own shoelaces to bind them. Bruiser was more direct, headbutting his opponent in the face before pummeling them with punch after bloody punch.

Setsuna was the outlier. Wearing her fuku, she held off two of the Koreans are once. She’d knocked their weapons from their hands and danced through the fight, neither opponent willing to risk getting closer to her. “Surrender now,” she ordered. “You cannot last against her majesty!”

“What is she talking about,” one of the agents said. “Who’s this majesty?”

“They’re all insane,” the other shouted back. “Rush her!”

Setsuna saw them both try to come at her. It was a decent attempt, but she had centuries of training. She jumped from the ground, dodging the Koreans and rolling as she landed. Spinning around, she knocked them both out with her staff. Spinning, she made sure no one else was coming at her in the fog before rushing for Usagi.

Michiru skirted from tree to tree, trying to avoid the bursts of gunfire every few seconds. Sometimes they were too close, others they were off by five yards. She stopped and hid behind one of the trees, hearing shouts in a foreign tongue. She tried to figure out a plan, these human operatives weren’t youma. They fought like cornered animals even when they had the advantage, and used the basest means to achieve victory. “ _Hang on Haruka, I’ll stop them and save you._ ”

Footsteps, heavy footsteps coming toward her. Face still placid she held up her mirror to see Parker and Gunner half-limping through the trees, Gunner hanging over Parker’s shoulder. “What? What are you two -- ”

“Monster,” Parker wheezed. “Back there, big one, senshi problem.”

“I think there are three back where I came from,” she said. “They have automatic weapons, I’m not sure what -- ”

“Russian AKs,” Parker said. “Tag out, we’ve got it.” Michiru nodded, speeding past the two toward the youma.

“Havoc,” Gunner wheezed. “We’re not…In a state to fight…”

“Shut the hell up and stay down,” Parker said, propping Gunner up behind a tree. “And shut up until I tell you.” Grabbing Gunner’s pistol, Parker hobbled into the trees ignoring the screaming pain in his gut and ribs.

Abbas tried to keep his rage in check. They’d wounded one of them, but now this was complicated by a _second_ group trying to kill the Senshi. Fine, they’d wear each other down and leave themselves for him to kill.

“Abbas, we need to withdraw,” Daryush whispered. “This is too much, we’ll be killed.”

“We will if you keep talking,” Abbas whispered, his tone venomous. “Keep silent, find them and kill them!”

“No, this is madness,” Hameez whispered. “We need to get out, we’re risking discovery.”

Abbas turned to where he thought Hameez’s voice was coming from. “We are not going to be seen as weak! We are going to hunt down these witches and kill them!”

Hameez started to respond when he made a noise between a yelp and a shout that was cut off. Abbas spun around, rifle up and ready to fire. He was silent, trying to listen for whatever captured his comrade. The fog was still thick, everything enveloped in the formless cloud to become nothing but hazy outlines in the near distance.

Abbas tried to keep himself calm. He trained with _Niru-ye qods_ , specifically for missions where he may be called on to act with violence for his country’s interests. Devilish schoolgirls with some kind of magic spells would not stop him.

“Hameez,” Daryush whispered. Abbas started to move toward the man’s voice. “Hameez, answer me!” Abbas kept quiet, Daryush’s actions would draw out whoever had attacked Hameez.

Movement. Abbas raised his weapon in time for a fist to speed from the fog at his face. He pulled back, but felt another hand gripping the front of his rifle. Abbas rolled, grunting as he tried to get inside the punch. That was when he collided with a wall of 230-plus pounds of American. Abbas was at a disadvantage, he was a lesser foe in terms of weight and reach. So, he did the only thing he could think of doing.

He sent his foot flying into the man’s crotch.

“You son of a bitch!” The man cried out but didn’t let go of the rifle, dropping to his knees and groaning. Abbas answered by kicking again, aiming for the man’s face. The American caught the kick with his hands, grunting as he tried to stand up. Abbas answered by dropping his rifle and pulling his pistol. “Fucking American!”

Parker glared at the Iranian as he pulled a pistol. Between the aching pain that used to be his testicles and the pain in his gut from the monster’s hits, he knew he was nearly his limit. That didn’t matter, he still had a job to do. He’d been in worst places before, especially after the first mission he’d had against the Black Hand on the Colombia-Venezuela border. Fighting through every neuron in his brain screaming at him to stop, Parker launched himself at the Iranian. The AK fell to the ground as Parker wrestled for the pistol. Parker managed to flip the Iranian onto his back, returning the favor to the Iranian with his knee. The smaller man howled out, but didn’t drop the pistol. Any other time, Parker would’ve respected the man’s tenacity. Right now, he was fighting to stay alive. The Iranian tried to grab at Parker’s neck, but Parker batted the idiot’s hand away with his right arm. He grabbed the Iranian’s neck, squeezing as hard as possible.

“Let him go!” Parker looked up and saw there was still another Iranian. Wrenching the arm of the man he’d pinned, Parker grabbed the pistol and vanished into the fog.

Farther ahead, Michiru held up her hands and shouted, “Deep Submerge!” The ball of water and energy coalesced in her hands, and she sent it flying at the monster. For the third time, the monster appeared to fall into the ground. Five seconds later, it popped up in front of Michiru and attacked. Michiru jumped away, but not fast enough this time. The flat end of the mattock caught her leg, sending her off balance as she flew through the air. She landed hard against a smaller shrine to the side of the property, knocked out cold.

“Worthless,” Mattock growled, digging into the ground again. “Time to find the _real_ Sailor Senshi!”


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

[Makoto was still holding](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heP5rrCYkn0) her own against the Korean agent, but she was getting tired. It was a battle of who would make the first mistake, and who would capitalize on it. Farther away, Deadeye and the other commandos were rushing to help the others. She caught glimpses of it through the fog. Patch dragging away and beating the man that had beaten Usagi. Deadeye pistol whipping the Korean that had tried to choke out Ami, probably more times than was required, before sprinting to help Tuxedo Mask. Hotwire had saved Rei from the operative that had been trying to beat her to death, and Minako worked with Bruiser to secure the last foe. Her opponent was the only one she could see that was left fighting.

“This is all a mistake,” Makoto said. “Stop fighting us, please!”

Bong-Cha didn’t answer, she tried to make some space. Things were falling apart, she needed to fall back and report to Seoul. The Americans weren’t investigating the Senshi, they were _allies_ with them. Worse, they tried to intimidate them into silence. There was only one card to play.

“We surrender,” Bong-Cha called out. “We surrender, we’re done fighting!”

Makoto froze as she was about to slug Bong-Cha. “You what?”

“We surrender,” Bong-Cha said. “We -- ” She was cut off by Hotwire slamming her boot into the side of her face.

“Stay down,” Hotwire barked, flipping Bong-Cha onto her belly and restraining her arms. “Mercury, clear the fog! Deadeye, Patch, find Havoc and Gunner!” The pair ran off, Ami shaky as she tried to clear the air. “Start putting them together, don’t let any of them run off!”

Bong-Cha stared at the woman. She was from the Middle East, but she couldn’t place the accent. She couldn’t be Iraqi, the Americans had just destroyed any pretense of Iraq’s military dominance in less than a year. Israeli? This was a major leap to take from being allies to joint operations in a second allied nation. Something else was going on here…

Yards away, Parker scowled as the fog cleared. He got a better look at the second Iranian, a man with a full beard behind his bandana. “Get up,” he growled. Parker moved slow, wincing with each movement. “Where is the creature that attacked us?”

“Somewhere back there,” Parker grunted. “Listen, you idiots have got to -- ”

Abbas rose and drove his fist into Parker’s gut. Doubled over, Parker watched as the Iranian leveled his pistol at his head.

The ground rumbled, throwing the two Iranians off-balance. Parker seized the chance and scrambled back, leaving the two enemies to deal with the monster. They fired at the monster, Parker heard the rounds pinging off it. The ugly bastard roared at the pair, swinging at them with its arm. There was no time to look back, Parker just kept scrambling until he saw Deadeye and Patch. “Get the girls, get the girls!”

The pair spun around, running back to the rest of the Senshi. Parker kept hobbling, cursing as he heard a siren in the distance. “Shit! Patch, keep’em distracted!”

As Patch ran for the front of the shrine, Parker followed Deadeye to the Senshi. “Girls! Monster! Back there! Take it down!”

Usagi stared at Parker, shocked at the first time he looked like he’d been beaten. “What about -- ”

“Heal me later,” Parker shouted. “Take that thing down!”

Usagi nodded, clenching her fist as she set off with her friends. It was seconds before they came across the monster throwing two of the Iranians about. “How dare you!” Usagi planted her feet and glared the monster down. “Attacking a group of friends when they were trying to spend time together! Forcing people who had no business here into a fight! You’re one of the worst monsters we’ve ever faced! In the name of the Moon, we will stop your evil and set things right!”

Mattock snarled at the Senshi, putting his foot down on one of the Iranians. “You finally showed! It was getting boring waiting for them to finish the job.”

Usagi was about to shout back when she heard the sirens getting close. “ _Not a lot of time,_ ” she thought. Grabbing her tiara, she spun around and called out, “Moon Tiara Magic!” The disc of light went flying at Mattock, the monster tunneling beneath the ground to dodge the blow.

“Hang on,” Ami shouted, pulling her visor up. “I’ve got him, he’s coming right for us!”

“Then I’ll stop him,” Makoto shouted, raising her lightning rod. The second the pavement started to break she cried out, “Jupiter Thunder Crash!”

Mattock was hit by the blast as soon as he erupted from the ground, shrieking as he was supercharged with the force of a lightning bolt. As he tried to shake it away, Minako leveled her finger and shouted, “Venus Crescent Beam!” The bolt of light slammed into Mattock’s head, the beast roaring out as he tried to tunnel away.

“No you don’t,” Rei shouted, drawing an ofuda. “Rin, Pyou, Tou, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen!” Sprinting ahead, she slammed the paper charm onto Mattock’s forehead, freezing him in place. The monster roared out, half-buried in the stone.

“Now you’ll answer for what you’ve done,” Usagi shouted, ignoring the fighting she’d just been through to draw her tiara again. “Moon Tiara Magic!” The light careened into Mattock this time, the youma screaming out as he was vaporized.

Mamoru and Setsuna watched from behind, ready to act in case the girls had needed it. “Great job Sailor Moon,” he said. “You -- ” Pistol fire, from the front of the shrine. “What?”

“It must be one of Dead Six,” Minako said. “Quick, we need to figure out what to do!”

“Wait,” Ami said. “We need to find Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune.” Scanning the grounds, she nodded. “Gunner’s trying to make his way to us, but he’s limping. Sailor Neptune is straight ahead, and Sailor Uranus is behind that tree. Oh no, it says she’s been hurt!”

“We’ll get them,” Mamoru said, nodding to Setsuna. “We’ll meet back at the house, hurry!”

As the pair jumped away, Makoto turned to the unconscious Iranians. Two right next to each other, a third a few yards off. “We’d better take these ones back too,” she said, cracking her knuckles. “Parker might have some questions for them.”

It was a sad sight when everyone was collected. Haruka was bleeding heavily from two bullet wounds to the arm, and Patch could only do so much to stop it. Michiru was too busy crying at the sight of her love bleeding to notice the pain in her stomach from Mattock’s attack. Setsuna was the only one of any of them not sporting bruises or cuts. Usagi’s cheek was starting to swell, and Ami was sporting a large bruise on her neck. Rei’s face had been cut along her right cheek, the blood darkening over her skin. Minako’s lip was little better, the girl wincing as she tried to wipe the blood away. Mamoru wasn’t visibly wounded, but his movements said that he’d taken some hard hits from his own cane.

“We gotta get back to the SGC,” Parker said. “Girls, hand over your recalls.” Parker collected the bracelets, and started shoving them onto the wrists of the Koreans. “Gunner, you go back with one and tell’em to standby.” Gunner nodded, grabbing Bong-Cha and slapping his recall. The Koreans stared in shock at the vanishing act, along with Setsuna. Shoving the bracelet on another Korean, he forced two of them to grab hands and slapped the recall. “Girls, change back!”

It was Parker’s tone that shook them, Usagi shaking as she spoke up. “W-What do you -- ”

“Change back Goddammit,” Parker shouted. “You were having a sleepover with new friends! You were attacked! Get that through your thick skulls! You almost died tonight, and here you are standing around like idiots!”

As another set of agents was whisked to the SGC, the girls started to shudder. Usagi tensed up, bringing her arms close to her chest. “Parker, why are you -- ”

“You’re fucking crying,” he bellowed. “You’re fucking kids, dammit! Here you are crying again!”

The five girls shuddered, trying to figure out what they did wrong. “Parker,” Minako said, trying to reach out. “Whatever we did, we -- ”

“Hotwire,” Parker said, nodding to Setsuna. “Her!”

Hotwire nodded, walking up to the Senshi. Before Setsuna could ask what was going on, Hotwire decked her across the face and started kneeing her in the gut. Another fist across the cheek, and Hotwire walked back.

Parker called out, “Patch!” Seconds later, the pistol fire stopped as more sirens approached. Parker nodded to the Iranian with the broken glasses. Patch nodded, kneeling down and grabbing the man before hitting his recall. As the rest of Dead Six vanished with their new prisoners, Parker glared at Mamoru. “What the fuck are you doing here! Get the fuck out you idiot, this is a girls sleepover!” Mamoru nodded, giving a longing look to a crying Usagi before bounding into the night.

“What the hell are you waiting for,” Parker barked, hoisting up his final prisoner. “Get back to normal, you idiots!” The girls were all crying now, Parker watching as they glowed from their uniforms to their PJs again. “Still fucking crying, still!” Glaring at them all one last time, Parker checked there was nothing else around before slapping his own recall.

As the girls sat and cried and tried to figure out what happened, two police ran up the stairs with their revolvers out. The night after was a flurry of phone calls and flashing lights, ambulances and EMTs. Usagi remembered her mother sobbing as she hugged her daughter. Ami recalled her mother trying to be clinical and still shedding tears. Rei’s father had to fight through a wall of cameras to get to his daughter, even though his reaction was silence while her grandfather cried and apologized for not keeping her safe. Minako’s parents held their daughter, trying to hold themselves together as they demanded answers for why this happened to their daughter. Makoto sat alone in her bed, silent tears ebbing down her cheeks as the nurses checked on her.

“ _Why,_ ” Usagi thought, nothing else in her mind. “ _Why did Parker get so angry?_ ” The image of his snarling face bellowing at her made her cry all the harder into her mother’s shoulder.

The sight of the girls all crying in the states they were in made the detectives wait until later to ask what happened.

* * *

Parker was laid out in the SGC infirmary, listening as Dr. Frasier checked him over. “A monster with a giant pickaxe for a right hand,” she said, listening to her stethoscope. “And you said he was bulletproof?”

“Skin was made of metal,” Parker said, shutting his eyes. “Anything major?”

“No, but you’ve got some heavy-duty bruising on your ribs at least,” Dr. Frasier said. “I want you and Gunner to get some x-rays, and I’m recommending you take it easy for at least a week to recover.” Parker grunted, setting into his bed. “What about the girls, were any of them wounded?”

“Couple of cuts and bruises,” Parker said. “Nothing but love taps.”

“I’ll be the judge of that once they get here,” Dr. Frasier said, putting her stethoscope around her heck. “Now don’t cause any trouble, or I’ll have Teal’c come down here and keep an eye on you.”

Parker nodded, eyes still shut. It had been a confusing few hours, Gen. Hammond hadn’t been happy with the fact his command had to deal with over a dozen foreign nationals from a separate dimension. At least neither group of spies had been stupid enough to try anything.

“Oi, cap’n,” Gunner said from the next bed over. “Think maybe you were a bit too rough on’em?”

“No,” Parker said, scowling. “You heard the doc, get some sleep.”

“You’d better hope they’re willing to listen to an explanation,” Gunner said. “The cats are liable to make it hard to explain.”

“I’ll figure it out,” Parker grunted. “Now let me get some sleep.” Gunner sighed, turning his head away and leaving the pair in silence.

Up in the conference room, Bong-Cha and Abbas stared at Gen. Hammond. The man was glaring at the pair, with four Security Forces standing behind them. Both had been in shock when they arrived, staring at the concrete room surrounded by armed Americans. That was when they realized everything was different, was _wrong_. They were still trying to grapple that they didn’t look like themselves as Gen. Hammond spoke up.

“As it stands, our nation in this universe has no enmity with either of your nations in your home universe,” he said, glaring at the pair. “We’re willing to chalk this incident up to misdirection on the part of our own foes. What I’d like to know is why you fired on a civilian dwelling in the first place?”

Bong-Cha wasn’t quite out of her shock as she answered. “We thought the thing that attacked us was working with them, you,” she half-whispered. “It was right after your agents warned us away.”

“So instead of trying to confirm, you responded with arms,” Gen. Hammond half-spoke, half-growled. “Did your intelligence not make a note of the forces working opposite the Senshi?”

“We only knew that there was some kind of activity near our embassy,” Abbas said, eyes wide as he stared at the table. “There was little knowledge of what was actually happening. What were we supposed to think after we were attacked?”

“As it is, you should consider yourselves lucky Ms. Tsu- That Sailor Moon wanted you all kept alive,” Gen. Hammond said. “Now you both have a choice to make. We can’t hold you here, but we can’t risk the integrity of our operations. So you have a choice to make, both of you. You can either agree to return to your governments and tell them that the Senshi are not an issue, or we’ll be forced to keep you here under watch for the rest of your lives.” Both agents froze, staring at Gen. Hammond in terror. “You’ll both be escorted back to the holding cells -- ”

“Sir, please,” Bong-Cha said, shooting up from her seat. “Please, can we have a half-hour to speak to each other? I’m sure we don’t need to be imprisoned…here.”

Gen. Hammond glared at the two, and rose. “You’ll be able to speak here. Under guard. I’ll return in a half-hour to hear what you have to say.” Nodding to the airmen guarding the pair, Gen. Hammond left the conference room. Stepping outside, he walked to O’Neill and Carter. “They’re shaken.”

O’Neill feigned surprise. “Really sir, you don't say?”

“SG-2 has already made contact with Cimmeria sir,” Carter said. “Gairwyn said the Asgard are advising her against keeping anyone from another dimension permanently on their world.”

“One option off the table,” Gen. Hammond said. “No word from SGs 4 or 5?”

“None sir,” Carter said, glancing at the conference room. “Are we sure they’re capable of making an intelligent decision right now sir?”

“We have to trust that they’re capable or recognizing that there’s really no option for them,” Gen. Hammond said. “I won’t imprison these people in another universe because they were doing their jobs.”

“Uh sir, last I checked one of those two teams was Iranian,” O’Neill said. “Might it be prudent to suggest we not give ourselves more trouble in another world?”

“I have to disagree,” Gen. Hammond replied. “These aren’t our Iranians. We could be causing trouble for the Senshi instead of aiding our opposites.”

“Sir, they’re Iranians,” O’Neill said. “A is A, last I checked that’s what we’re operating under.”

Gen. Hammond sighed. “I can’t deny it’s tempting to find a way to deny them this. If we did that however, we’d have to do the same to the South Korean agents.”

“The South Koreans didn’t hold our people hostage,” O’Neill argued.

“That’s my decision, colonel,” Gen. Hammond said, putting his verbal foot down. “We will wait to see what happens and proceed from there.”

In the conference room, Abbas turned to Bong-Cha and said in Japanese, “You are South Korean?”

“What does that matter,” Bong-Cha whispered. “We’re in some kind of Hell world, there’s no chance they could let us back.”

“No, I think, maybe there is,” Abbas said, leaning in close. “They said they’re a kind of multiversal coalition, correct? That they stand unified against common threats. That means there already is one?”

“That’s the implication,” Bong-Cha said. “A group already in this ‘multiverse’.”

“Exactly,” Abbas said, glancing at the airmen. “I’m not thrilled that we were captured by the Americans. Still, this can be useful.”

“Oh it can,” Bong-Cha said, spinning in her chair to glare at Abbas. “How is that?”

Abbas thought for a second, mind racing. “We can go back. We can tell our superiors that the Senshi situation is in need of closer observation, that this isn’t the end.”

“Then how do we explain the gunfight,” Bong-Cha said. “The Japanese are can’t ignore this, they’ll have too many questions.”

“This group could turn any investigation on its head,” Abbas said, slamming his fist on the table. The airmen moved, putting their hands on their pistols. Abbas took a breath, holding his hands up waiting for the airmen to ease up. “This threat, whatever it is? It can appear anywhere. We don’t know what it is, these people do.”

“You’re suggesting we use them,” Bong-Cha said, thinking. “Yes, I think I understand. Position ourselves in Tokyo, learn what this threat it.”

“Neither of us needs to take any pleasure in the idea,” Abbas said. “We only need to understand this threat.”

“What about these people,” Bong-Cha said. “We need to convince them that we can be trusted.”

“Those girls,” Abbas said. “You said they were young? Practically children? Why do you think they wanted us alive?”

“Not for information,” Bong-Cha said, nodding. “They were trying to show mercy.”

“We should accept it for now,” Abbas said. “We can at least get home and figure out what happens next.”

“Then we need to join our resources,” Bong-Cha said. “If this turns against us, I won’t be left alone to handle the damage.”

“Agreed,” Abbas said. In truth, he didn’t trust an ally of the Americans. Bong-Cha felt the same way, knowing that the Iranians had dealt with North Korea. Two global pariahs set against the order of the world. Still, both knew they had no other options. Anything was better than spending the rest of their miserable lives trapped in such an alien world.

* * *

It was a week before Usagi’s parents felt comfortable enough to let her go to school again. In the meantime, Hotwire had arrived to tell them what to tell the police: They were there for a sleepover, they were attacked by groups looking for the Senshi, and that they had no idea what happened. The police had accepted the report as they all said it, Patch said it was because they only knew enough to be witnesses, not suspects.

“I hope they’re happy,” Luna said, walking alongside Usagi on the way to school. “I think it’s time we re-evaluate our relationship with the MVTF. All of you left beaten and bruised, and one of our newest was even shot!”

“Parker was so mean too,” Usagi sighed. “I thought we were doing so good, then he was yelling at us?”

“Focus Usagi,” Luna said, looking up at the girl. “I know it’s been hard but we have to think about this. Is the MVTF really something we should still be involved in?”

“But we made a promise to them Luna,” Usagi said, staring down at the sidewalk. “What would it mean when we start turning our backs on our friends?”

“Are they our friends,” Luna said, getting in front of Usagi. “Do you ever treat your friends the way Parker treated you all that night?”

“Tsukino.” Turning, Usagi saw Hotwire coming up from behind. “I need to talk with your.”

“I should think so,” Luna said, glaring at Hotwire. “You all have a lot to answer for after what happened.”

Hotwire glared at Luna before looking at Usagi. “Listen, there’s something you need to understand about what happened.”

“I know what it is,” Usagi said, turning away. “We did something wrong, that’s why he shouted at us like he did.”

“No, you didn’t,” Hotwire said, smiling at Usagi. Usagi blinked, looking at Hotwire like she was not only turning into a man, but that she also was riding an albino bison through the streets. “I know, it probably sounds crazy. The thing is, what would the police have done if they saw you all, and the house like it was? Then they’d notice none of you were crying or in shock. That would’ve been confusing for them, wouldn’t it?”

“You could have said something,” Luna said, glaring at Hotwire. “You left them all thinking they did something wrong for a week, on top of everything else that happened.”

“I’m talking to Usagi,” Hotwire said.

“Right, sorry,” Usagi said, blinking out of her surprise. “So Parker wasn’t angry with us?”

“Oh, he would’ve let you know if he were really angry,” Hotwire said, rolling her eyes. “It was either that or worry that one of the cops would realize they have to investigate things that don’t add up.”

“So, he did it to protect us,” Usagi said. “That makes a little sense. He didn’t have to be so mean about it though.”

“My guess is he wanted to make sure you all could pull off the trick,” Hotwire said, shrugging as she handed Usagi five recall bracelets. “In truth, you all handled yourselves well. We’ll have to see about making a training regime for you all, but you didn’t back down once combat started.”

“How could we,” Usagi said, finally giving up a small smile. “Our friends were in danger after all.”

“Right,” Hotwire said, smiling at Usagi. “Anyway, we’re handling the Iranians and South Koreans right now. They’ll remain in Tokyo, but they’ll be on our team instead of acting against us. It was either that or they get sent to some backwater planet in SG-1’s universe.”

“Once again, threats and intimidation instead of true diplomacy,” Luna said, glaring at Hotwire.

“Are they okay though,” Usagi said. “Are any of them hurt?”

“The SGC’s checked everyone out. Parker and Gunner will need some time, but everyone came back alive. Somehow.” Hotwire shook her head. “Honestly, someone should have died last night.”

“They didn’t though,” Usagi said, smiling. “That’s the important thing. After all, now we have three new friends and two new groups of allies, right?”

“Oh, right,” Hotwire said, forcing a smile. She suspected Usagi didn’t quite understand that in this case, the Iranians and Koreans had only agreed to save their own lives. “ _She’ll figure it out soon enough._ ”

Usagi’s smile was interrupted by her flinching. “Oh no, no, I’ve gotta get to school! Bye Hotwire, I’ll see you later!”

Luna sighed as Usagi went sprinting off. “Well, I suppose she still has some priorities. Now, Hotwire, about -- ” Luna was left staring at empty space where Hotwire had been. Hissing, Luna glared up at the sky. “What is wrong with these people!”

Sprinting to the gate, Usagi sped inside with the later arrivals. Panting, she looked up to see Naru, Ami, and Makoto circled around Umino. “Hey guys, what’s wrong?”

“Usagi!” Naru cried out as she ran to hug her friend. “I’m so happy you’re alright, we couldn’t believe it when we heard what happened on the news!”

Usagi nearly lost her balance as she took the hit of Naru running into her. “Thanks Naru, I’m happy I’m out of the house again.”

“Well you won’t like this,” Makoto said, downcast as she nodded to Umino, the boy holding a newspaper. “Remember what everyone said about no one taking the Senshi seriously? Well, that’s changed.” Usagi walked up and gasped at the sight of the headline.

“TOKYO METROPOLITAN POLICE CREATE SPECIAL INVESTIGATION SQUAD AGAINST THE SAILOR SENSHI”

“No, this isn’t right,” Usagi said, staring slack-jawed at the paper. “The police never cared before…”

“Apparently that attack that happened at the shrine is the reason,” Umino said. “After what happened, every adult wants to know why more isn’t being done to protect people. Only it looks like the police think the Senshi are to blame.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Usagi cried out, snatching the paper from Umino’s hands. “Why would anyone think _that’s_ the problem here!”

“I think it’ll be harder for anything to happen now,” Ami said, sitting on the front steps on the school. “Not if there’s an entire police unit at work.”

“Wow, you’re really angry about this Usagi,” Naru said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine,” Usagi said, letting out a nervous laugh. Ami and Makoto sighed, both wishing Usagi could learn to lie a little better.

* * *

“Another failure Kunzite,” Beryl shouted. Kunzite stood at attention, taking the abuse as best he could. “Now we have three more of the Senshi to concern ourselves with! How do you explain that?”

“I can’t my queen,” Kunzite said, head bowed. “We didn’t know they’d found the Outer Senshi, or even that they could have.”

“Well once again, your failures have only brought us more misery,” Beryl shouted. “Be thankful you still contribute any energy to our reserves! Go, I’ll call on you when I decide you’re worth the trouble!”

Bowing, Kunzite left the audience chamber, ignoring the stared of the others surrounding him. He made his way back to his chambers, his ponytail flying behind him as he went.

He stopped at the sight of his love’s body. Without thinking, he ran a hand along Zoisite’s casket, staring down at his beloved. “I want his body moved,” he said. “Then I’m willing to help with whatever plans you have.”

“Of course, sir,” the human said, bowing. Kunzite watched as the human pulled back his cloak, tapping at what looked like a small computer console on his forearm. That was when a dark red portal opened in Kunzite’s room, black-and-red clad troopers pouring in with weapons.

“I’m glad to know you accepted my offer.” It was the commanding voice again, this time coming through the portal. Kunzite watched as a bald man with a goatee stepped through, a small grin on his face as he held out a hand. “Welcome, Gen. Kunzite, to the Brotherhood of Nod.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another story wrapped, hope you guys enjoyed the twist.
> 
> So our next story will be a longer one, so get ready for a two-fisted tale of excitment in 1940s France! Stay tuned!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! Here we go, the next part of A is A! Hope you all had a good Christmas, now let's get set to put this bullshit year in the rearview and pray to God it doesn't find us at the new address. As always, comment and tell me what you like, what you think needs work, etc. Also, stay tuned, we've got a whole bunch of art pieces for the series coming! Stay tuned!


End file.
